Rescue workers in Baltimore recovered two victims believed to have been working on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship Tuesday morning.
Divers pulled the workers from a red pickup truck under 25 feet of water Wednesday morning, according to Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler. The men were identified as 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes from Mexico and 26-year-old Dorlian Castillo from Guatemala. Both lived in Maryland.
Butler said the victims’ families had been notified of their loved ones’ deaths.
Four other workers were believed to have been doing early morning roadwork with Fuentes and Castillo when the 984-foot-long Dali cargo ship destroyed the bridge’s support structure after a power outage resulted in the loss of steering capabilities.
Their bodies have not been recovered due to the dangerous conditions in the stretch of Maryland’s Patapsco River where the tragedy occurred. Police now consider the situation to be a “salvage operation” that will require more time.
“Because of the superstructure surrounding what we believe are the vehicles, and the amount of concrete and debris, divers are no longer able to safely navigate or operate around that,” Butler told reporters Wednesday. “We have exhausted all search efforts in the areas around this wreckage and based on sonar scans, we firmly believe that the vehicles are encased in the superstructure and concrete that we tragically saw come down.”
The other victims’ countries of origin include El Salvador and Honduras, Butler said. He urged patience as emergency teams continue exploring the crash site.
“There’s no definitive timeline on this,” Butler said.
The FBI and U.S. Coast Guard are working with Maryland officials.
