Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is receiving accolades online for his compassionate response to a question about the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Maryland.
At around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a container ship crashed into the bridge on Interstate 695, causing numerous vehicles and the majority of the structure to plummet into the icy Patapsco River below.
It is unclear how many people were killed or injured in the horrific incident.
During a press conference Tuesday, Scott was answering questions about the incident when a reporter asked him how long it would take to rebuild the bridge.
“We shouldn’t even be having that discussion right now,” Scott immediately responded. “The discussion right now should be about the people, the souls, the lives that we’re trying to save.”
“There will be a time to discuss about a bridge and how we get a bridge back up, but right now there are people in the water that we have to get out. And that’s the only thing that we should be talking about,” he concluded.
A clip of his statement was posted by the Daily Mail on TikTok.
Social media users across several platforms that saw this response praised Scott for putting human lives at the forefront.
“Major Brandon Scott...amazing response! Keep the focus where it should be,” a user responded on TikTok.
“His response is why we need younger generations in our US government!!” another commented.
“He handled that question way better than I would have, he kept his cool knowing that question wasn’t important,” commented a third user.
When the clip made its way onto X, formerly Twitter, users also praised Scott’s response.
Although it is unclear how many people were killed or injured, eight workers were on the bridge repairing potholes when the incident occurred, and six remain missing. Two people have been rescued from the water, however, with one taken to a hospital but has since been released.
The container vessel that crashed into the bridge reported a power issue immediately before its collision, and issued a mayday call. The incident is believed to be an accident and not related to terrorism, state and federal officials said.