On Wednesday, officials confirmed the recovery of the bodies of two men from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site in Baltimore. The tragic incident, which occurred earlier, has left four individuals still missing and presumed dead. Recovery operations were halted on Wednesday to shift focus towards clearing the wreckage of the bridge, previously utilized by over 30,000 vehicles daily.
The mission has transitioned from recovery to salvage due to concerns that vehicles are trapped within the bridge debris, rendering it unsafe for divers to continue operations. To aid in the effort, the Navy is dispatching barges equipped with heavy lift cranes to assist in debris removal. Three cranes with varying lifting capacities are expected, accompanied by support vessels to extract submerged portions of the bridge. However, the exact arrival time of these resources remains uncertain.
Maryland State Police Col. Roland Butler Jr. reported that divers discovered the bodies of the men—identified as 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera—within a red pickup truck submerged 25 feet deep in the Patapsco River around 10 a.m.
The tragic collapse occurred early Tuesday when a support column was struck by a large container ship that had lost power, resulting in people and vehicles plunging into the water below.
“Given the duration of our search efforts, the extensive resources deployed, and the water temperature, we unfortunately do not anticipate finding any of the missing individuals alive at this point,” stated Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath during a press briefing on Tuesday evening.
Two Rescued, Worker Details Revealed
Following Tuesday’s collapse, two individuals were promptly rescued from the water. While one of the rescued workers emerged unharmed, the other received medical attention at the University of Maryland Medical Center and has since been released.
According to Rear Admiral Gilreath, all eight individuals involved in the incident were members of a construction crew tasked with repairing potholes on the bridge. The workers hailed from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, disclosed on Tuesday afternoon that the workers were employed by a local company called Brawner Builders.
Update on Missing Workers from Key Bridge Collapse:
- Three of the missing workers identified:
- Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 35, originally from Honduras, residing in the U.S. for 20 years
- Miguel Luna, originally from El Salvador
- Dorlian Castillo Cabrera, 26, originally from Guatemala
- All six victims were engaged in pothole repair work on the bridge during the collapse.
- Luna identified by a nonprofit organization; three South American nations indicated missing citizens but did not confirm them as victims.
- Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes from Veracruz, Mexico, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera from San Luis, Guatemala, are among the missing, as per state police.
- The nonprofit CASA identified Miguel Luna, a father of three from El Salvador, as missing; his body remains unrecovered.
- Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed two missing men from Guatemala.
- Honduras’ Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio García reported a missing Honduran citizen, while the Mexican Embassy in Washington stated Mexicans were among the six missing workers.
- The men, aged in their 30s and 40s, have families in Dundalk and Highlandtown, according to the Baltimore Banner.
Update on Key Bridge Recovery Efforts:
- The Coast Guard is spearheading the recovery mission at the Key Bridge site.
- Col. Roland Butler Jr. from Maryland State Police highlighted hazardous conditions in the water, citing changing currents, low visibility, and sharp metal debris, which pose risks to divers and first responders.
- Recovery operations were scheduled to commence at 6 a.m. Wednesday, although the exact locations of the victims remained unknown.
- Continuous rainfall on Wednesday added complexity to the search, with weather conditions deteriorating throughout the day.
- Maryland Democratic Rep. David Trone informed CBS News that recovery efforts might utilize underwater drones. These drones are expected to locate submerged vehicles, with authorities identifying one vehicle in particular likely containing casualties.
Timeline of Events and Response Efforts
A memo released by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, deemed unclassified, revealed that the ship experienced propulsion loss while departing Baltimore Harbor. Consequently, the vessel alerted the Maryland Department of Transportation about the potential collision with the bridge due to loss of control.
Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski disclosed that approximately two minutes passed between the ship’s pilot notifying authorities of the onboard issue and the subsequent collapse of the bridge.
The timely notification enabled authorities to issue a mayday and halt traffic onto the bridge, a crucial measure Mayor Brandon Scott emphasized as having “saved many lives” and facilitated swift arrival of emergency personnel at the scene.
In response to the collapse, both Mayor Scott and Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared states of emergency. A joint effort involving federal, state, and local agencies such as the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board dispatched personnel to the site for investigation.
Key Facts About the Key Bridge:
- Crossing the Patapsco River, a vital waterway connected to the Port of Baltimore, the bridge serves as a crucial link for East Coast shipping.
- As the outermost of three toll crossings in Baltimore’s Harbor and the final segment of Interstate 695, also known as the Baltimore Beltway, the bridge connects Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
- Constructed in 1977, the bridge was a response to the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel reaching capacity and facing frequent congestion, as reported by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA).
- Spanning 1.6 miles, the bridge accommodated approximately 31,000 daily commuters and facilitated the passage of 11.5 million vehicles annually.
