BALTIMORE — The U.S. Coast Guard stated that the cargo ship which lost power and hit a bridge in Baltimore had undergone routine engine maintenance before the incident. Divers found the bodies of two out of six workers who fell into the water. The remaining workers were thought to be dead, and search attempts had been completely carried out.
Investigators started gathering evidence from the cargo ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The bodies of two men, aged 35 and 26, were discovered by divers in the morning inside a red pickup submerged in roughly 25 feet of water near the center of the bridge, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent of Maryland State Police, revealed at an evening news conference.
The victims were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler mentioned.
All search efforts have been exhausted, and based on sonar scans, authorities “firmly” believe the other vehicles with victims inside are encased in superstructures and concrete from the collapsed bridge, Butler said.
A coworker of the people missing said yesterday that he was told the workers were on break and sitting in their trucks parked on the bridge when it crumpled.
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath stated at a news conference that authorities had been informed that the ship was going to undergo maintenance. He added that they were not informed of any problems.
The ship collided into a support pillar early Tuesday, causing the span to collapse. The bodies of two of six workers who plunged into the water were recovered earlier Wednesday.
The investigation gained speed as the Baltimore region coped with the sudden loss of a major transportation connection that’s part of the highway loop around the city. The catastrophe also closed the port essential to the city’s shipping industry.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship and planned to retrieve information from its electronics and paperwork, according to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.
The agency is also examining the voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and creating a timeline of what led to the crash, which federal and state officials have described as an accident.
The ship’s crew sent out a distress call early Tuesday, reporting that they had lost power and the vessel’s steering system just minutes before hitting one of the bridge’s columns.
At least eight people went into the water. Two were rescued, but the other six — part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge — were missing and presumed dead.
