*Originally published on March 26, 2024, at 4:56 a.m.
Updated on April 1, 2024, at 10:36 a.m. (MT):
The U.S. Coast Guard is suspending its rescue efforts following a horrific incident in Baltimore, Maryland. The Francis Scott Key Bridge plunged into the freezing waters of the Patapsco River after being hit by a container ship.
"I'd like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that we've gone in this search, the extensive search efforts 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," said Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath at a Tuesday evening news conference.
Colonel Roland L. Butler Jr., secretary of Maryland State Police, said the efforts will now shift focus to finding the remaining four construction workers and providing closure to their families. Two bodies were recovered on Wednesday morning. The construction workers were contracted with the state transportation agency and doing repair work on the bridge when it collapsed.
"At this point, we do not know where they are. But we intend to give it our best effort to help these families find closure," Butler said.
Eight total construction workers were working on the bridge when it collapsed. Two were pulled from the water on Tuesday; one was not injured, and the other was in "very serious condition" and taken to a local trauma center. A patient being treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center was discharged later Tuesday, the hospital said in a statement.
The victims have been identified:
- Miguel Luna
- Dorlian Cabrera
- Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes
- Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval
- Jose Mynor Lopez
The sixth victim was a man named Carlos, whose full name has not been released.
The Baltimore City Fire Department said multiple vehicles plunged from the bridge at the time of the collapse. Five vehicles—three passenger vehicles, a cement truck, and another of "undetermined nature"—have been found in the water.
Reports indicate that the container ship Dali, a Singapore-flagged vessel, struck the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. (ET). The 984-foot ship had departed Baltimore and was heading for Sri Lanka.
No crew members on the ship were injured, ship management company Synergy Group said in a statement.
Thirteen damaged containers, "some with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and/or hazardous materials [HAZMAT] contents," are being investigated by a U.S. Coast Guard team, according to an unclassified memo from the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CNN reports.
A YouTube livestream captured the moment the ship struck the Key Bridge. Watch the livestream video below:
*This is an ongoing story and will be updated accordingly. Refresh for the latest!
