Search resumes for 6 presumed dead in Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — The search resumed Wednesday morning for six people missing and presumed dead in the wake of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. 

The bridge crumbled early Tuesday after a support column was hit by a large container ship that had lost power, sending people and vehicles into the Patapsco River.

Search and rescue operations were suspended at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday as officials transitioned to recovery efforts. 

“Based on the length of time that we’ve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts that we’ve put into it, the water temperature — that at this point we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said in a news conference Tuesday evening.

Two workers rescued, six missing

Two people were rescued from the water shortly after Tuesday’s collapse. One of the rescued workers was unhurt, the other was treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and has been discharged. 

All eight people were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge at the time, Gilreath said. 

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Security Board, said Tuesday afternoon that a local company, Brawner Builders, employed the workers. 

Perilous search conditions

The Coast Guard is leading the recovery mission at the Key Bridge site. 

Col. Roland Butler Jr., with Maryland State Police, said conditions in the water, including changing currents, low visibility and sharp metal objects, made it dangerous for divers and first responders. 

Divers would begin recovery operations at 6 a.m. Wednesday, Butler Jr. said, adding that the victims’ exact locations were unknown.

Maryland Democratic Rep. David Trone told CBS News recovery efforts will likely be conducted with underwater drones. He said the drones will be able to locate submerged vehicles and that authorities have identified one in particular that likely has casualties.

Who are the victims?

All six victims were working on the bridge filling potholes at the time of the collapse. One of the victims has been identified by a nonprofit organization, and three South American nations indicated missing citizens but stopped short of identifying them as victims. 

The nonprofit organization CASA identified one of the missing workers as Miguel Luna, a man from El Salvador who was a father of three. 

Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said two of the missing workers were from that country. One was 26 years old and the other was 35 years old, according to the ministry. 

Honduras’ Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio García told The Associated Press a Honduran citizen was missing, and the Mexican Embassy in Washington said there were Mexicans among the six as well.

Ship had a “power issue” before the collision

Investigators have confirmed that the ship lost power right before the collision. Governor Wes Moore said the crew notified authorities of a “power issue.” 

Two U.S. officials told CBS News multiple alarms rang out on the ship, alerting pilots and crew to an issue on board. The crew ran several system tests to attempt to remedy the loss of propulsion from the motor, but the tests proved unsuccessful. At that point, the pilot alerted the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transit Authority. 

Roughly two minutes elapsed between when the ship’s pilot notified state authorities of an issue on board and when the bridge collapsed, Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski said.

Mayday call saved lives

Officials said in a news conference that the call allowed officials to order a mayday and stop traffic onto the bridge.

Moore said that the decision to stop traffic onto the bridge “saved lives last night.” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told CBS News the mayday call “saved many lives” and allowed emergency personnel to get to the scene quickly.  

Officials did not clarify how many vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse. Infrared video showed that vehicles did enter the water, but it’s not clear if those vehicles had occupants. Multiple vehicles remained in the river Wednesday. 

Homendy said it was too early in the investigation to clarify an exact timeline of events for the accident. 

The ship’s crew made an effort to deploy the anchor, though it remains unclear how much progress was made, multiple officials said Tuesday.

“If it lost steering and power, then basically it’s a dead ship just being carried by the current or its own momentum,” James Mercante, the president of the New York Board of Pilot Commissioners, told CBS News.

He said video shows a “big, big puff of black, real dark black smoke” which might indicate that the vessel’s power was “restored at the last minute” and that the pilot was “attempting to make an emergency maneuver” to prevent the collision. However, it would be difficult to stop the 900-foot-long vessel. 

“It would take quite a while — probably the length of five [or] six football fields — to bring that ship to a stop, even after dropping the anchors, because of its power and momentum. This is a behemoth,” Mercante said. 

Where is the Francis Scott Key Bridge? 

The bridge crosses the Patapsco River, a key waterway that along with the Port of Baltimore serves as a hub for East Coast shipping. 

The bridge is the outermost of three toll crossings of Baltimore’s Harbor and the final link in Interstate 695, known in the region as the Baltimore Beltway, which links Baltimore and Washington, D.C. 

The bridge was built in 1977 after the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel reached capacity and experienced heavy congestion almost daily, according to the MDTA. 

The 1.6-mile span was used by some 31,000 people per day and carried 11.5 million vehicles annually.  

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