Another body is recovered from Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse site – as FBI agents begin to probe Dali cargo ship’s crew

A fourth body has been recovered from the site of the collapsed Key Bridge in Baltimore.

At the request of the family, the name of the victim has not yet been released.

Video captured the moment the massive structure fell into the river, killing six men – all road workers who had been on the bridge at the time.

The body of this fourth victim was found during a search on Sunday when recovery teams from the Unified Command located one of the missing construction vehicles.

After notifying the Maryland Department of State Police, the FBI and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, the victim was found still trapped in the vehicle.

Investigators also met with the Baltimore County Mobile Crisis Team and the Governor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs as they notified family members.

“As we mourn the lives lost and continue the recovery effort, we recognize that each missing individual is someone’s beloved friend or family member,” said Col. Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police.

“Together with all our allied law enforcement partners, we pledge to exhaust the physical and technical aspects of their training using all available resources.”

On Monday, the FBI launched a criminal investigation into the collapse that killed the construction workers.

Agents will investigate whether the Dali’s 22 crew members knew there were serious system problems before leaving the port of Maryland on March 26.

Some arrived at the ship today to speak to the crew, who remain on board.

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s mayor said the city is bringing in outside companies to “hold all entities accountable for the Key Bridge tragedy.”

He has hired two law firms to sue Grace Ocean Private, the Singapore-based company that owns the ship.

It comes just three weeks after shocking footage was broadcast around the world showing the 110,000 tonne cargo ship ramming into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The enormous impact caused it to collapse onto the ship and into the icy river, sending the six construction workers to their deaths.

The criminal investigation will be overseen by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland and focus on how much the 22 crew members knew about the ship’s problems.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said, “This unthinkable tragedy has taken Marylanders from their loved ones and jeopardized the livelihoods of thousands of Baltimoreans who depend on the Port of Baltimore.

“Part of that work must include seeking redress from those who may be responsible, and now that the ship’s owner has filed a petition to limit his liability just days after the incident, we must just as quickly act to protect the interests of the city.’

A separate federal investigation into the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is already underway by the National Transportation Safety Board.

During the first phases of that investigation, researchers are focusing on the electrical power system of the enormous container ship that veered off course.

Jennifer Homendy, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said her agency is collecting data with help from Hyundai, the manufacturer of equipment in the ship’s engine room. Testifying before a U.S. Senate committee, she said investigators have also asked for help investigating the circuit breakers.

“That’s what our focus is now in this investigation,” she said. ‘That is of course temporary. It could be different paths, different paths as we continue this research.”

Homendy said they examined the electrical system. The ship experienced power problems shortly before the crash, as evidenced by videos showing the lights going off and coming back on.

Investigators are also examining the bridge’s design and how it could be built with better pier protection “to current standards,” Homendy said.

The container ship Dali was leaving Baltimore laden with cargo and headed to Sri Lanka when it struck one of the bridge’s support columns last month, causing the span to collapse into the Patapsco River and sending six members of a roadwork crew plunging to their deaths. .

Crews have been working to free portions of the fallen bridge, including those that were tangled in a muddy mess at the bottom of the Patapsco River.

“This work is remarkably complex,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore said at a news conference last week.

Officials said they still expect to open a third temporary shipping channel in late April, which will allow significantly more commercial traffic to pass through the Port of Baltimore. The east coast shipping hub has been closed to most maritime traffic since the bridge collapsed, blocking access to the main canal.

Moore said efforts continue to unload shipping containers from the Dali, which will eventually be refloated once pieces of the fallen bridge are also lifted from the bow. He said crews aim to remove 178 containers; So far, 34 have been removed.

Moore also called for bipartisan congressional support to fund construction of a new bridge, and said federal lawmakers met in 2007 to pay for the reconstruction of Minnesota’s Interstate 35 bridge after it collapsed into the Mississippi River . He called on members of Congress to visit Maryland and see for themselves.

“Sit with me and my team and get close to the wreckage,” he said. ‘Look what we’ve been seeing for two weeks. Look what it looks like when a steel bridge falls on a ship the size of the Eiffel Tower.”

Federal security investigators remain on the scene in Baltimore. They conducted numerous interviews, including with the ship’s pilots and crew, Homendy said during her testimony Wednesday. She testified at a hearing regarding her nomination to continue serving as board chair for a second term.

She said the board’s preliminary report on the crash will likely be released early next month.

Safety investigators previously established a tentative timeline leading up to the crash, which federal and state officials said appeared to be an accident.