Divers tasked with searching for the victims of the horrific bridge collapse in Baltimore must spend hours in icy, murky water filled with dangerous pieces of mangled metal as they continue their heroic efforts.
The treacherous conditions were cited by Maryland officials as they called off the search late Tuesday night, admitting that their operation has now become a rescue mission to find bodies.
Six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse are still missing, and Coast Guard officials say they are presumed dead.
At a news conference Tuesday concluding the search, Col. Roland Butler of the Marland Police Department said dive teams are dealing with “changing currents, low temperatures, very poor visibility and so much metal and unknown objects in the water.”
Dive teams searching the wreckage of the Key Bridge in Baltimore face dangerous conditions, including freezing temperatures, shifting currents and very poor visibility
Rescuers are deployed along with structural engineers to help navigate around the dangerous wreck. On Tuesday evening, the dangerous conditions led officials to suspend the search
Late on the first day of the search, eerie images emerged of rescue teams combing the Patapsco River with flashlights.
Crews searched past the twisted remains of the 2.6-mile-long Key Bridge, which could be seen embedded in the ship’s bow.
Dive teams are struggling to move around the wreck, with footage showing them pointing flashlights at the murky water.
Hopes of finding the workers alive diminished in the evening, with experts saying the frigid 46-degree water would only allow survival for a maximum of three hours.
Jeffrey Pritzker, the executive vice president of the labor company Brawner Builders, said the circumstances were reason enough to believe they died in the tragedy.
“We assume they are no longer alive because they were thrown into the bay in an area 50 feet deep, with a temperature of 110 degrees, probably buried under tons of steel,” Pritzker told the newspaper. Baltimore banner.
“The company is in mourning and it is a terrible, unexpected tragedy,” he added.
At the news conference, Butler said he was bringing his teams in for the night because the dangerous mission also endangered the lives of crew members.
“The last thing we want to do is put divers in the water with changing currents, low temperatures, very poor visibility and so many metals and unknown objects in the water,” he said.
“It only takes one object to strike an individual, and suddenly we have a first responder picking up another first responder,” he said, noting they would be in a “better position” to find bodies by wait until Wednesday. morning.
Colonel Roland Butler of the Marland Police Department said he called off the search because of the risks dive teams face
Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River after a container ship encountered the Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused it to collapse
Officials said they are searching for at least six people in the icy waters
Crews searched past the twisted remains of the 2.6-mile Key Bridge, some of which could be seen in the icy river in the ship’s bow.
Amazing footage has captured the moment the ship plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending the colossal steel structure plunging into the icy Patapsco River
The ship, a 300-meter DALI from the Singaporean company Synergy Group, collided with the bridge shortly after leaving the port of Baltimore.
The bridge spans 9,000 feet over the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water
Divers were returned to the frigid Patapsco River at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Given the dangerous conditions, they will reportedly be accompanied by a structural engineer to help navigate the rubble due to the risk of a suit leak or airline leak.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said divers were dealing with a “treacherous situation” and praised their efforts.
“We’re talking about frigid temperatures, we’re talking about a moving tide, we’re talking about darkness and mangled metal still in the middle of this body of water,” Moore said.
“The heroism of our first responders was simply outstanding.”
Moore also noted the quick action of transportation officials on the bridge just before the crash, as they immediately stopped traffic when the ship’s crew sent out an emergency alert.
“I have to say I’m grateful for the people who as soon as the point came up and the announcement came that there was a state of emergency,” Moore said.
‘By literally being able to prevent cars from crossing the bridge, these people are heroes. They saved lives.”
Maryland Governor Wes Moore (center) praised the efforts of the dive crews, saying the “heroism of our first responders was simply outstanding.”
An investigation continues into how the ship failed to avoid the bridge. An initial report mentions a ‘propulsion error’ as a possible cause.
A search was underway early Tuesday morning in the icy Patapsco River
The first of the six victims was named Tuesday as Miguel Luna, 49, a construction worker who was on the bridge at the time of the collapse
Maynor Suazo, 37, from Honduras, has been named as the other man missing and presumed dead
The ongoing rescue missions come as the first two missing victims have been identified.
Miguel Luna, 49, was at the cemetery with the rest of his Spanish crew when the Dali ship lost propulsion and caused the collapse.
Luna, a father of six, is now presumed dead.
His heartbroken wife Carmen Castellon told the story Telemundo 44: ‘They just tell us that we have to wait, that they can’t give us any information for the time being. (We feel) devastated, devastated because our hearts are broken, because we don’t know if they have saved them yet. We’re just waiting for news.’
A second man, Maynor Suazo, 37, from Honduras, was identified in his home country as another worker missing and presumed dead. Suazo, a father of two, has lived in the US for the past eighteen years.
Guatemala’s consulate in Maryland said in a statement that two of the missing were citizens of the Central American nation. Their names were withheld, but consular officials were in contact with authorities and assisted the families.
Mexican officials have said some of their citizens are missing, but did not say how many.