▶ Watch Video: Remembering the 6 killed in Baltimore bridge collapse
BALTIMORE – Six workers missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning are presumed to be dead, the U.S. Coast Guard announced after a day of search and rescue efforts.
The search for the six became a recovery effort Tuesday evening. Two bodies were recovered from the site of the collapse in a red pickup truck Wednesday morning.
State Police said the search has moved to a salvage effort because officials believe the four still missing are in vehicles encased in the bridge debris. Divers are no longer able to operate around the debris.
The span was struck by a cargo ship shortly after it left the Port of Baltimore early Tuesday morning.
Officials say that eight people were working on the bridge at the time of the collapse. Two people were rescued from the water shortly after Tuesday’s collapse. One of the rescued workers was unhurt, the other was treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and has been discharged.
Who were the bridge collapse victims?
The men were working for Brawner Builders, filling potholes on the center span of the bridge at the time of the collapse. They were originally from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
One of the missing workers from El Salvador was identified as Miguel Luna by the nonprofit organization CASA.
“He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years,” CASA executive director Gustavo Torres said in a statement Tuesday night, noting Luna was a “longtime member of the CASA family.”
A former coworker, Moises Diaz, described Luna as a kind person who worked hard and always shared his food with other workers and friends. In an interview with CBS News, Diaz said he considered Luna like a brother.
Maryland State Police identified the two men found in the red pickup truck as Dorlian Cabrera, 26, who was originally from Guatemala and lived in Dundalk; and Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, who lived in Baltimore and was from Mexico.
The Honduran Consulate confirmed Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 34, was among the missing. His brother, Carlos Alexis, described him as a kind, big-hearted and funny family man who came to the U.S. when he was about 20. He had a teenage son and a 5-year-old daughter.
Jose Mynor Lopez, 35, was originally from Guatemala. His wife, Isabel Franco, told WJZ he moved to the U.S. 19 years ago and was a loving father to their child and three stepchildren
“He had a good heart. He was a hard worker. He was always worried about his family too. He died but he was fighting for us always,” she said in Spanish.
The sixth victim, a man named Carlos whose full name has not been released, was also from Mexico.
Recovery mission paused, salvage begins
The search for bodies was paused Wednesday as attention turned to clearing debris from the deadly collapse and reopening the Port of Baltimore.
The bodies of two construction workers were recovered from a submerged truck Wednesday. Four people remain missing and are presumed dead, but divers can no longer operate around the mangled bridge debris that has encased submerged vehicles, officials said.
The span was struck by a cargo ship that had lost power shortly after it left the Port of Baltimore early Tuesday morning.
The U.S. Navy is mobilizing barges outfitted with heavy lift cranes to help clear the Patapsco River of debris.
Three cranes with varying lift capacities and support vessels are expected to begin removing submerged portions of the bridge. Two cranes arrived by Friday morning.
“This was so completely unforeseen,” Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, told The Associated Press. “We don’t know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers. But we never foresaw that the bridge would collapse.”
