The tragic collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge has turned from a search-and-rescue mission to a recovery-and-salvage operation, as authorities confirm the deaths of two construction workers, with four more still missing, Maryland State Police reported that divers located the bodies of 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera inside a submerged red pickup truck in the frigid depths of the Patapsco River, around 25 feet below the water's surface.
Their retrieval was part of the aftermath of a large container ship striking a pillar of the bridge early Tuesday, leading to a catastrophic failure that sent the bridge, along with the construction crew, into the waterway below, and the initial rescue efforts have been hampered by the ruins which are thought to contain vehicles trapping the remaining victims, according to FOX13 Seattle. Unable to safely navigate the dangerous debris, divers had to withdraw and await the arrival of heavy lift cranes supplied by the Navy poised to clear the channel.
The bridge, critical infrastructure sustaining over 30,000 daily commuters, now lies in ruin, its superstructure's destructive collapse shadowing the lives inexplicably lost, and freshly discovered through recovered sonar imagery as stated during a press conference covered by France 24. Colonel Roland Butler, the superintendent of Maryland's state police, conveyed the grim certainty of more vehicles entangled within the bridge's shattered remains.
A separate briefing presented by federal investigators introduced findings from the shipping vessel's voice data recorder, stating that alarm on the ship, named the Dali, began at 1:24 a.m., indicating a piloting mishap that ultimately resulted in the ship colliding with the bridge, CBS Baltimore reports, discussions about the imminent impact with the bridge were communicated to the port authority as the pilot sought assistance from tugboats for the stricken vessel.
Efforts to restore the Patapsco River's navigability retrieve the remnants of the bridge, and hopefully provide some closure to the victim's families, continues, as Maryland and the nation grapple with the loss and seek understanding from a narrative still unfolding, punctuated by the unforgiving sequence of misfortune that transformed the familiar passages across the Patapsco into a site of sorrowful remembrance.
