Divers have recovered the bodies of two men who died when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning after a cargo ship crashed into it.
Authorities announced Wednesday night at a news conference that divers had found the bodies of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26. The men were discovered inside a red pickup truck about 25 feet underwater, said Col. Roland Butler Jr.
Divers have moved from a recovery mission to a salvage operation due to the conditions they face underwater. A “superstructure” of bridge debris has prevented the divers from reaching the area where they believe the other victims are located, Butler said.
“We’ve exhausted all search efforts in the areas around this wreckage, and based on sonar scans, we firmly believe the vehicles are encased in the superstructure and concrete that we tragically saw come down,” he said.
Here’s what to know about the collapse.
Cargo ship lost power
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the Dali, a Singapore-flagged ship carrying cargo, lost power before it slammed into the bridge around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
He said it’s not clear what led to the ship’s loss of power but that the mayday call was issued due to the power issues preventing the steering of the Dali.
“The force of this ship is almost unimaginable,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Wednesday. “This is a vessel that was about 100,000 tons carrying its load. So, 200 million pounds went into this bridge all at once, which is why you had the almost instant catastrophic result.”
4 remain missing, presumed dead
Four people remain missing and are presumed dead. Those missing are part of a work crew that was repairing potholes overnight Tuesday when the bridge collapsed.
Their identities haven’t been publicly released, but officials said Wednesday night that the victims are from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. CASA, which works with immigrant and working-class families, identified two of the men as Miguel Luna and Maynor Suazo Sandoval, from El Salvador and Honduras.
Luna was a husband and father of three. Sandoval was a husband and father of two.
“They were working construction alongside friends, with two workers surviving and the rest perishing as the bridge came tumbling down,” CASA said.
Two people survived the disaster, one of whom was hospitalized and released Wednesday, Butler said. Their identities haven’t been released by authorities. Moore said one of the survivors lived because a first responder told him to get off the bridge just before it collapsed.
Bridge collapsed in seconds
Within moments of the Dali hitting the bridge, it broke apart and collapsed into the chilly Patapsco River.
A video shared on social media shows the ship losing and regaining power at least twice. Smoke appears to plume out of the ship as it inches toward the 1.6-mile bridge, which vehicles were using, seemingly oblivious to what was occurring below them on the water. The vehicles exited the bridge with only moments to spare. Moore said authorities have no information about any additional vehicles in the water, other than those belonging to the construction crew.
The Dali was traveling at 8 knots, about 9 mph, when it struck the bridge, Moore said.
Audio from authorities paints a picture of how police responded in the moments leading up to the collapse. An officer can be heard directing police over the radio to hold traffic because “there’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering.”
An officer raised concerns over a “crew working on the bridge right now” and discussed plans to notify the crew’s foreman and have them evacuate the bridge. Within moments of discussing removing the crew, another officer jumped on the radio, exclaiming that “the whole bridge just fell down.”
“Start — whoever — everybody — the whole bridge just collapsed,” the officer said.
Global supply chain impacts
The closure of the Port of Baltimore, which handled a record $80 billion worth of foreign cargo in 2023, will have an impact on the global supply chain, Moore said. Shipping in and out of the port is suspended until further notice.
“The collapse of the Key Bridge is not just a Maryland crisis. The collapse of the Key Bridge is a global crisis,” he said. “The national economy and the world’s economy depends on the Port of Baltimore.”
The port was listed as the 20th-biggest in the country by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Moore in February touted the port’s success as “one of the largest economic generators in Maryland” after its private terminals handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo in 2023.
The port generates some 15,300 direct jobs, with nearly 140,000 jobs linked to the port. It ranks first for volume of autos and light trucks, roll-on/roll-off heavy farm and construction machinery, imported sugar, and imported gypsum. It is the second-largest exporting hub for coal in America.
At least 8,000 dockworkers have been affected by the collapse, the governor said. It’s unclear when the port and bridge will be rebuilt.
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin said it was a top priority to reopen the shipping lanes. Fellow Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said clearing the waterway would cost $40 to $50 million — and that was a preliminary estimate.
President Joe Biden vowed a rapid rebuilding effort.
“As I told Gov. Moore, I directed my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” he said. “It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge.”
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