The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Grim hunt for bridge fall victims
Recovery efforts resumed yesterday in the search for six construction workers presumed dead after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore.
At least eight people fell into the Patapsco River after a cargo ship crashed into a pillar of the crossing in Maryland at 1.30am local time on Tuesday.
Two were rescued but the other six, part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, are missing and presumed dead.
Among those were people from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from those countries.
The Honduran was identified as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova.
It came as audio from first responders revealed a scramble to halt traffic just before the crash.
Within 90 seconds of a dispatcher’s 12-second warning over the radio, police officers responded that they had managed to stop vehicle traffic over the bridge in both directions.
One said he was about to drive on to the bridge to alert the workers but it was too late.
“The whole bridge just fell down,” a frantic officer is heard to say on the radio.
“Start, start whoever, everybody... the whole bridge just collapsed.”
Officials said the crash, which occurred after the 985ft Dali ship lost its steering capability, appeared to be an accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, and ship traffic entering and leaving the port has been suspended indefinitely.
Police said there is no evidence anyone went into the water other than the workers, though they had not discounted the possibility.
A senior executive at the company that employed the crew, Brawner Builders, said they were working in the middle of the bridge when it fell.
“This was so completely unforeseen,” said Jeffrey Pritzker, the company’s executive vicepresident. “We take such great pride in safety.”
Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, said one crew member was treated at a hospital for a minor injury.
Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott called it “an unthinkable tragedy”.
Maryland governor Wes Moore hailed first responders for their swift action.
He said: “By being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes.”