NOS News•today, 00:53•Amended today, 07:16
Divers have recovered the bodies of two of the six road workers who were working on the bridge that collapsed after a collision on the night of Monday to Tuesday in the port of Baltimore. The bodies were found in a sunken pickup truck more than 7 meters deep.
The car was located near the center section of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, a Maryland police spokesman said at a news conference. The road workers found are a 35-year-old man from Baltimore and a 26-year-old man from nearby Dundalk. The two were originally from Mexico and Guatemala.
The four other road workers, also from Latin American countries, are still missing. The authorities assume that they are also no longer alive. Sonar equipment has determined that other vehicles carrying victims are buried under water under rubble from the bridge. The search will continue today as soon as it is light.
Sound recordings
Yesterday, federal government investigators examined the cargo ship that caused the collapse when it struck one of the bridge piers. The crew of the Dali had reported moments earlier that everything on the ship had failed and that the ship was out of control.
Because there were already police present on both sides of the bridge, access could be closed very quickly. According to the authorities, there would otherwise have been many more victims. Audio recordings show that an official had parked his car across the road and waited for a colleague to arrive and then drove onto the bridge to warn road workers. Ultimately, that time turned out to be no more.
Audio from just before the bridge accident: ‘Stop all traffic!’
At a press conference it was also reported that the ship had recently undergone maintenance. “As far as the engine is concerned, we have not heard of any problems,” the Coast Guard said.
Due to the accident, the port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the American east coast, is closed for the time being. Traffic in the city has also been disrupted. An important road ran straight through the harbor over the bridge.
