Bridge collapse: Divers find two bodies
Victims fished out from depth of 25 feet; region hit by loss of major transportation link
BALTIMORE: Investigators began collecting evidence from the cargo ship that plowed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused its collapse, while in the waters below divers searched through twisted metal for six construction workers who plunged into the harbour. The bodies of two were recovered Wednesday, and the others were presumed dead.
The bodies of the two men, aged 35 and 26, were located by divers inside a red pickup submerged in about 25 feet of water near the bridge’s middle span, Col Roland L Butler Jr, superintendent of Maryland State Police, announced at an evening news conference.
The victims were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said.
The investigation picked up speed as the Baltimore region reeled from the sudden loss of a major transportation link that’s part of the highway loop around the city. The disaster also closed the port that is vital to the city’s shipping industry.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship and planned to recover information from its electronics and paperwork, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
The agency also is reviewing the voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and building a timeline of what led to the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.
The ship’s crew issued a mayday call early Tuesday, saying they had lost power and the vessel’s steering system just minutes before striking one of the bridge’s columns.
Eight people went into the water. Two were rescued, but the other six -- part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge -- were missing and presumed dead.
The debris complicated the search, according to a Homeland Security memo described to AP by a law enforcement official. The official was not authorised to discuss details of the document or the investigation.