Authorities resumed the search Wednesday for six missing construction workers who fell into the Patapsco River after a cargo vessel struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning.
Dump trucks and fire crews headed toward the Patapsco as officials from several state and federal agencies gathered Wednesday morning at the Maryland Transportation Authority’s headquarters, located next to what was once the 1.6-mile bridge’s north landing.
At the same location the evening before, Gov. Wes Moore and representatives from the Coast Guard and Maryland State Police said during a news conference that they would transition to a recovery operation, rather than search-and-rescue, to find the six men presumed to be dead, and not yet officially identified, after they fell into the river following the bridge’s collapse at 1:27 a.m. Tuesday.
Two others were rescued that morning from the water, one of whom was treated and released from the hospital, according to officials.
The six victims unaccounted for are construction workers who were filling potholes on the bridge when the Singapore-flagged vessel, the Dali, struck one of its support columns, causing the expanse to collapse.
In addition to those searching for the workers, crews from the National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI were also in the water to collect evidence. The board’s chair, Jennifer Homendy, said Wednesday morning that investigators planned to board the Dali later in the day to get electronic logs and components — “perishable evidence” that will go away as the collapse is cleaned up.
“The focus is what do we need for our investigation — whether it’s from the vessel or from the highway, from the bridge structure — identifying those, securing those before we do any sort of analysis,” she said.
The cargo ship’s 22-member crew is still believed to be on board, according to a spokesperson for Synergy Marine Group, the Dali’s management company.
“What the long-term plan is for the crew, I don’t know,” the spokesperson, Darrell Wilson, said.
In addition to the crew members, a local pilot and an apprentice were on board, according to Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots Association. Local pilots, mariners who are highly trained in navigating local waters, assist ship crews in getting through testy harbors. The job, which Diamond described as the “pinnacle of a mariner career,” requires extensive, arduous training.
A pilot was at the helm of the Dali when it appeared to sustain lose power early Tuesday morning, causing the ship’s steering and propulsion system to fair, Diamond said. The pilot did “everything he could” by contacting authorities and steering the ship’s rudder to the left once its backup generators kicked in, though the ship’s engines were still inoperable, he said. The ship also dropped anchor. Those maneuvers gave authorities the extra time to shut down bridge traffic, he said.
The transportation board’s investigators had not yet interviewed those onboard the ship early Wednesday, Homendy said.
“We began to develop a list of those we want to interview, both on the vessel and in the immediate vicinity,” she said, noting they would also want to speak with first responders and anyone who might have witnessed the collapse.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday morning, Moore said that he “cannot stress enough the heroism” of the rescue and recovery teams who have braved the Patapsco’s frigid waters since Tuesday. He said the divers are in dark waters where they can only see “a foot in front of them,” navigating “mangled metal” in a place where people are believed to have died.
Moore said Tuesday that he had met with the families of the missing workers and promised to use “every possible asset at our disposal to make sure they find a sense of closure.”
Maryland State Police Superintendent Lt. Col. Roland Butler said Tuesday night that “changing conditions” had made it “dangerous for first responders and divers in the water” but that surface ships would be on the river overnight and that divers would resume searching the river Wednesday morning.
One employee of the highway construction company, who was not involved in the incident, Jesus Campos, said his missing co-workers were of Hispanic descent and were replacing concrete on the bridge at the time of the collision. The workers are all employees of the Hunt Valley firm Brawner Builders, according to Jeffrey Pritzker, its executive vice president.
The General Consulate of Guatemala in Maryland said in a Facebook post Tuesday that two of the missing workers were from that country.
One of the workers was identified by family members as Miguel Luna, a Salvadoran father of three who has lived in Maryland for 19 years. He and his five missing co-workers were the subject of Masses and vigils across the city Tuesday.
At a vigil at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Baltimore City and County officials appeared alongside faith leaders, thanking first responders for their efforts and promising to support the impacted families.
“We can only imagine what is going through [the families’] minds and through their hearts and through their bodies,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. “We have to lift them up, not just today, not just tomorrow but for the foreseeable future.”
Catholic Archbishop William Lori, alongside other bishops, held a Mass in honor of the men on Tuesday. Father Ako Walker, a priest at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Highlandtown, offered prayers in Spanish for the families at a Dundalk vigil.
Baltimore Sun reporter Cassidy Jensen contributed to this article.
