As rescuers continue an extensive search for the construction workers unaccounted for since a Baltimore bridge collapsed early Tuesday, an executive at the company that employed them says they are presumed dead.
While the six workers’ bodies haven’t been recovered, Brawner Builders Executive Vice President Jeffrey Pritzker confirmed they are presumed to have died given the water’s depth and the amount of time that has passed since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed.
“This was so completely unforeseen,” Pritzker said. “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.”
The company didn’t name the missing workers, but María del Carmen Castellón told Telemundo 44 her husband, 49-year-old Miguel Luna, is one of them.
While access to the disaster zone is restricted, family members like Castellón were able to get in while they waited for news.
“They only tell us that we have to wait, that for now, they can’t give us information,” she said. “[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken, because we don’t know if they’ve rescued them yet. We’re just waiting to hear any news.“
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin emphasized Tuesday afternoon the emergency response remains focused on rescuing the six missing workers.
“This is still very much an active search-and-rescue mission,” Moore said.
The crew was repairing potholes in the middle of the bridge’s span when a cargo ship hit it about 1:30 a.m. and crumbled the bridge.
People who live near the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore said they are heartbroken by the collapse that destroyed it. “Priscilla, the Key Bridge is gone,” one resident said her husband told her as she woke up. News4’s Juliana Valencia reports.
Rescuers pulled two workers from the Patapsco River. One was hospitalized and released hours later.
Multiple vehicles also fell into the water, although authorities don’t think anyone was inside them.
The ship is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd., which said all crew members, including the two pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of injuries involving anyone who was on board.
Officers were about to alert crew when bridge collapsed
Radio traffic from the Broadcastify.com archive indicates officers were just about to alert the construction crew when the bridge collapsed.
The Maryland Transportation Authority first responder radio traffic includes a dispatcher putting out a call saying a ship had lost its steering ability and asking officers to stop all traffic. It took officers less than two minutes to stop traffic on the bridge.
“I’m thankful for the folks who, once the warning came up and once the notification came up, there was a mayday, who, literally, by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes,” Moore said. “They saved lives last night.”
One officer who had stopped traffic radioed that he was going to drive onto the bridge to notify the construction crew once a second officer arrived. But seconds later, a frantic officer said: “The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever, everybody … the whole bridge just collapsed.”
It’s unclear if word ever got to the work crew on the bridge that the ship was in danger and to evacuate the span.
“There were eight individuals,” said Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland’s transportation secretary. “Six are being searched for right now, one was taken to the hospital and one is not in the hospital that we are speaking to.”
As word spread the bridge had collapsed into the water, authorities immediately asked nearby jurisdictions to send rescue boats and dive teams. The U.S. Coast Guard responded with ships and a helicopter.
In Photos: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses after being struck by container ship
Container ship lost power, rammed support column
The container ship lost power and rammed one of the bridge’s supports, destroying a span of the bridge in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river in a terrifying collapse that could disrupt a vital shipping port for months.
“It looked like something out of an action movie,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it “an unthinkable tragedy.”
The collapse is almost sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, along the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore, a major shipping hub. The accident will also snarl cargo and commuter traffic.
More than 12 hours after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said Tuesday afternoon that first responders are still working to locate the six people who went missing. “For everyone who is offering prayers and support, I can tell you those prayers are working and we are grateful.”
Highway signs as far south as Virginia warned drivers of delays associated with the bridge.
Synergy Marine Group — which manages the ship, called the Dali — confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. while in control of one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help guide vessels safely into ports.
Synergy said all crew members and the two pilots on board were accounted for, and there were no reports of any injuries.
The ship was moving at 8 knots, roughly 9 mph (14.8 kph), the governor said.
Jagged remnants of the bridge could be seen jutting up from the water’s surface. The on-ramp ended abruptly where the span once began.
The bridge spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to a busy harbor, which leads to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Wiedefeld said all vessel traffic into and out of the port would be suspended until further notice, though the facility was still open to trucks.
President Joe Biden said he planned to travel to Baltimore “as quickly as I can” and that he intends for the federal government to pick up the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge.
“This is going to take some time,” Biden said. “The people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”
The FBI was on the scene and said there was no credible information to suggest terrorism.
The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic. The container ship is about 985 feet (300 meters) long and about 157 feet (48 meters) wide, according to the website.
Inspectors found a problem with the Dali’s machinery in June, but a more recent examination did not identify any deficiencies, according to the shipping information system Equasis.
Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel. No Maersk crew and personnel were on board.
Last year, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth $80 billion, according to the state.
The head of a supply chain management company said Americans should expect shortages of goods from the effect of the collapse on ocean container shipping and East Coast trucking.
“It’s not just the port of Baltimore that’s going to be impacted,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport.
The collapse, though, is not likely to hurt worldwide trade because Baltimore is not a major port for container vessels, but its facilities are more important when it comes to goods such as farm equipment and autos, said Judah Levine, head of research for global freight booking platform Freightos.