Maryland lawmakers draft emergency bill to help Baltimore port workers

A drone view of the Dali cargo vessel, which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse and cutting off access to the Port of Baltimore. Photograph: National Transportation Safety Board/Reuters

Statehouse and senate leaders in Maryland have drawn up plans for emergency legislation to cover the salaries of port workers hit by shutdowns in the wake of Tuesday’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Bill Ferguson, president of the Maryland senate, said more than 15,000 people in the region rely on the Port of Baltimore “to put food on the table”.