Recovery efforts resumed Wednesday in the search for six missing construction workers presumed dead after Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed following a collision with a cargo ship early Tuesday morning. Among the missing are immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and Honduras, according to foreign officials and a local aid group.
The Maryland State Police, in coordination with other agencies, planned to deploy divers and conduct a more detailed search starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday. "Based on the length of time that we've gone in the search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature -- at this point, we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive," Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath told reporters.
Eight construction workers who were fixing potholes on the bridge plunged into the frigid water when the structure collapsed. Two were pulled from the water, including one who was hospitalized and has since been released, according to ABC News.
The Guatemalan foreign ministry confirmed that two of the missing workers are a 26-year-old from San Luis, Petén, and a 35-year-old from Camotán, Chiquimula. "The Consul General of Guatemala in Maryland was able to establish telephone communication with the brothers of the two missing Guatemalans," the ministry said in a statement.
Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Search Resumes for Six Missing Construction Workers, Including Immigrants
Court Appointed Special Advocates, a group that works with immigrants, identified another missing worker as Miguel Luna from El Salvador. "Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, left at 6:30 p.m. Monday evening for work and since, has not come home," the organization said in a press release. "He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years."
Martin Suazo shared the devastating news that his brother, 38-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval from Honduras, had been doing maintenance work on the bridge when it collapsed. Suazo, a married father of two who has been living in the United States for 18 years, ventured to the country in search of a better life, according to his brother.
A Mexican Embassy official in Washington confirmed that some of the missing workers are also Mexican but did not specify how many.
The challenging conditions in the water, including low temperatures and unpredictable currents, have made the search and recovery efforts dangerous for first responders. Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said that operations were halted overnight due to hazardous conditions, including "very unstable" sections of the steel bridge and shipping containers hanging from the cargo ship.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore expressed the state's commitment to bringing closure to the families of the missing workers. "We're still fully committed to making sure that we're going to use every single asset to now bring a sense of closure to the families," he said Tuesday.
The incident has also raised questions about the Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali, which struck the bridge. The nearly 1,000-foot-long vessel was heading out of Baltimore Harbor, bound for Sri Lanka, when it hit a support pylon at around 1:30 a.m. ET.
Danish shipping giant Maersk, which chartered the Dali, said it was "horrified" by the incident and confirmed that no Maersk crew or personnel were onboard the vessel at the time of the collision. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore stated that the Dali had passed overseas inspections and carried certificates covering its structural integrity and functionality.
