(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Larry Desantis, a Maryland baker, crossed the Francis Scott Key Bridge just seconds before its collapse, barely making it across alive, ABC News reported.
According to the Baker, he was one of the last cars to be allowed onto the bridge before it was struck by a massive cargo ship, Dali, last week.
“It makes me think, you know. I mean, I’m really lucky,” Desantis told ABC in a TV interview.
The baker has driven across the bridge to Herman’s Bakery in Dundalk, Maryland for 16 years.
“One minute later, I wouldn’t be here,” he added.
Desantis first noticed that something was off when he looked in his mirror and saw that there were no vehicles behind him.
“It was an eerie feeling because there were no vehicles at all,” he said, noting that usually “you’ll see 20 or 30 tractor-trailers coming and going.”
Though Desantis survived, six people are believed to have died as a result of the collision.
The number of casualties cannot officially be confirmed until water conditions become more suitable for the search, according to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
“We pray for all the victims of the Key Bridge collapse and also their loved ones,” Moore said at a Saturday press conference. “We are thinking about them now and always.”
Though little has been said about the cause of the incident so far, it appears that a power outage on the ship caused the pilot to lose control.
In response to the crisis, President Joe Biden said that the federal government, and not the shipping company responsible for the mess, intended to pay for a new bridge, according to CNN.
“It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge,” Biden told the press.
“I expect the Congress to support my effort,” he added. “This is going to take some time.”
The president also claimed to have instructed his administration to “move heaven and earth” to reopen the bridge “as soon as humanly possible.”
Although it is unlikely he would solicit the help of a Republican, another DeSantis—namely Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—has experience in such areas.
After the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ian in 2022 destroyed the bridge to Pine Island, DeSantis worked with Florida’s Department of Transportation to reopen it in three days.
He routinely cited the feat while on the presidential campaign trail as an example of his results-driven executive experience. DeSantis
Baltimore, by contrast, is a notorious bed of corruption and dysfunction that is likely to see much of the pledged $60 million in federal aid siphoned off by its Democrat leaders.
Former President Donald Trump slammed the historic and once beautiful city as a “rat-infested hell hole” due to its years of mismanagement.
