Baltimore Bridge Collapse Workers Were Immigrants

A crew of construction workers who were on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed Tuesday morning were immigrants from Central America, officials confirmed, and described as “hard-working, humble men.”

At approximately 1:30 a.m. ET, a freighter ship, departing from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the Singaporean vessel dubbed Dali, lost power and collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a 1.6-mile-long structure spanning Maryland’s Patapsco River. The collision caused a complete structural failure which saw the bridge collapse into the river, a dramatic and tragic scene captured in numerous videos and photos shared across social media.

At the time of the collapse, an eight-man construction crew had been among those on the bridge, working to patch potholes. The men are believed to have fallen into the water below, with only two having been found so far.

“We are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point, and we will continue to be for some time,” Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said at a press conference around five hours after the collapse. “We have a large area that we have to search.”

In a statement, the Maryland Transportation Authority confirmed what the crew had been doing on the bridge. Jesus Campos of the contracting company Brawner Builders had been working an overnight shift on the bridge before moving to a different one, and he also spoke out about the missing men. He said that they were immigrants originally from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, who currently reside in Dundalk and Highlandtown. The missing men were all in their 30s and 40s, with spouses and children at home, whom Campos said they came to Baltimore to provide a better life for.

“They are all hard-working, humble men,” Campos said.

Newsweek reached out to the Maryland Transportation Authority via email on Tuesday for comment.

In a statement about the harrowing incident, President Joe Biden said that he intends for the U.S. government to cover the costs needed to rebuild the bridge, an initiative he expects Congress to get behind as well.

“It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge,” Biden said. “And I expect Congress to support my effort…We’re gonna pay to get the bridge rebuilt and reopened.”

Patrick Penfield, a professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University, previously told Newsweek that the disruption to Baltimore’s port due to the collapse could cost roughly $9 million per day.