Baltimore bridge response shifts to recovery of missing

Authorities in Baltimore were yesterday focusing on expanding recovery efforts after a cargo ship slammed into a major bridge, causing it to collapse and leaving six people presumed dead.

All six were members of a construction crew repairing potholes on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US city when the structure was sent careening into the Patapsco River at about 1:30am on Tuesday.

A desperate search in nearfreezing conditions managed to pull two people from the choppy waters, but after nearly 16 hours, officials said they had given up hope of rescuing the others.

“At this point, we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath told reporters as night fell on Tuesday.

He added that responders were transitioning “to a different phase.”

Maryland Secretary of State Police Roland Butler told the same news conference that the focus would shift to a “recovery operation” by yesterday morning.

“We’re hoping to put divers in the water and begin a more detailed search to do our very best to recover those six missing people,” he said.

After the search effort was called off, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott emphasized the need to help families of the victims “get the closure they deserve.”

“My heart is with those families tonight and in the days ahead,” he said in a statement.

One of the missing workers was father-of-three Miguel Luna, according to Casa, a nonprofit that serves immigrant communities.

Luna, from El Salvador, had left for work at 6:30pm on Monday and never returned, Casa said.

His wife, Maria del Carmen Castellon, told Telemundo 44 that she was “devastated” by the wait for any information.

Two of the other missing workers were from Guatemala, the Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, while news Web site the Baltimore Banner reported that Mexican and Honduran nationals were also among the victims.

“My heart hurts with this situation,” said Jesus Campos, a construction company employee who said he worked alongside the missing. “They’re human beings and they are my colleagues.”

Footage of the collision showed packed container ship the Dali slamming into one of the bridge’s supports, causing the 47-year-old structure to collapse into one of the busiest US commercial harbors.