Recovery efforts ‘top priority’ as authorities recover black box from container ship
Rescuers are focusing on finding six people presumed dead on Wednesday morning after the Baltimore Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday, as authorities said they had recovered the black box recorder from the ship.
Maryland governor Wes Moore told a press conference that recovery of the victims was a “top priority”. He said:
The top priority right now is still the recovery … I will instruct every single asset that we have, air land and water. My promise to [the families] is this: I will devote every single resource to making sure that you receive closure.
Baltimore’s mayor Brandon Scott told CNN on Wednesday morning:
That work is already dangerous, but will be even more so today, with the expected rain, the choppy waters and we all know about the debris and other things that they’ll be dealing with.
The six likely victims of the Baltimore bridge collapse on Tuesday all appeared to be construction workers from Latin American countries, according to reports, including a father of three, Miguel Luna, from El Salvador.
The immigrant services non-profit We Are Casa confirmed that Luna, 40, had lived in Maryland for at least 19 years.
“He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years,” its executive director, Gustavo Torres, said in a statement. Luna’s son Marvin told the Washington Post he knew his father was on the bridge but he had not heard of the tragedy until friends called him.
The foreign affairs ministry of Guatemala confirmed that two of the workers were nationals, though it did not name them. It said the Guatemalan consul general had spoken with family members.
The Associated Press also reported one of the men, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova, was from Honduras.
Key events
The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, said he was able to spend time with the family members of the construction workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse.
Speaking to Today, Moore said he made a commitment to those families that “we would put every possible resource” towards a search and rescue mission, adding:
Now that we’ve transitioned to a recovery mission, I’m going to make sure that we’re going to put every possible resource to bring a sense of closure to these families.
He also paid tribute to the first responders who saved “countless” lives by getting cars off the bridge, adding that he was “incredibly thankful” for their work.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore joins TODAY and says he was able to spend time with the families of victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, six construction workers who are now presumed dead. pic.twitter.com/zSXoXpY59q
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 27, 2024
The city of Baltimore remains in a state of emergency as rescue efforts continue for the six missing construction workers, Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott said.
Speaking to CNN, Scott said:
There’s still a state of emergency. We will have that for the foreseeable future. This is an unthinkable tragedy that impacts our city and our community and our state in so many different and ways.
He acknowledged the work ahead to reopen the port of Baltimore, but said his concentration remains on the recovery efforts.
We’re all, right now, still focused on recovery. That’s what we’re talking about today – recovering those who we lost.
Mexico confirms some of the missing workers are Mexican
The Mexican embassy in Washington has confirmed that some of the six missing construction workers are Mexican.
In a social media post late Tuesday, the embassy said:
There are six workers missing, including Mexican, Guatemalan and Salvadoran people. The authorities will resume search work tomorrow.
🚨Actualización relacionada con el colapso del puente en Baltimore, MD:
✅ Hay seis trabajadores desparecidos, incluidas personas mexicanas, guatemaltecas y salvadoreñas. Las autoridades reanudarán mañana los trabajos de búsqueda. #EstamosParaServir
— Consulmex Washington (@ConsulMexWas) March 27, 2024
A retired Coast Guard officer has said he expects the focus in Baltimore to shift to two main objectives: investigating what happened and reopening the channel as quickly and safely as possible.
Divers and remote equipment will likely be used to survey debris on the channel floor both as part of the investigation and in preparation for clearing the channel, Aaron Davenport, a senior researcher with the Rand corporation, told AP.
Heavy-duty barges and cranes will be needed for the salvage operations, he said. Officials also will need to assess damage to the ship.
We have this big, giant ship. You don’t want the ship to sink. You don’t want it to leak fuel oil all over the port.
The ship will eventually likely be towed back to port and the cargo offloaded, he added.
Jesús Campos, a construction worker, said he knew the missing crew members and that they were all from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico.
“It’s a difficult situation,” he said, speaking through a translator.
My friends were working on that bridge.
Campos said the men all worked for the construction company, Brawner Builders, where he himself had worked for eight months – including on the overnight shift, until he was transferred to daytime hours one month ago.
He said the workers were low-income immigrants who used their wages to support family members in the US and abroad.
Jesus Campos, a construction worker who knows the crew, said the men were from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico. They are in their 30s and 40s and have spouses and children.
“They are hard-working, humble men,” he said.
More updates to come for @BaltimoreBanner. pic.twitter.com/dhMoFTiU7I
— clara longo de freitas (@claralfreitas) March 26, 2024
Father of three among six victims
Chris Michael
The six likely victims of the Baltimore bridge collapse on Tuesday all appeared to be construction workers originally from Latin American countries, according to reports, including a father of three, Miguel Luna, as authorities said they had recovered the black box recorder from the ship.
The immigrant services non-profit We Are Casa confirmed that Luna, 40 and originally from El Salvador, had lived in Maryland for at least 19 years.
“He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years,” its executive director, Gustavo Torres, said in a statement. Luna’s son Marvin told the Washington Post he knew his father was on the bridge but he had not heard of the tragedy until friends called him.
The foreign affairs ministry of Guatemala confirmed that two of the workers were nationals, though it did not name them. It said the Guatemalan consul general had spoken with family members.
The Associated Press also reported one of the men, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova, was from Honduras.
A correspondent for Reforma reported that a Mexican embassy spokesperson in Washington said one of the victims was a Mexican national and that two others were from Guatemala and El Salvador.
Recovery efforts for the six unaccounted for people have resumed at the collapse site.
Divers returned to the site early this morning after challenging overnight conditions improved.
Investigation ‘going to take some time’, says NTSB chair
Asked about reports that contaminated fuel may have played a part in the crash, National transportation safety board chair (NTSB) Jennifer Homendy said it was “way too early” and that investigators will “certainly look at that” as part of their efeforts.
She said her team would conduct a “thorough, comprehensive, holistic investigation” covering everything from maintenance to fire rescue operations, adding:
This is going to take some time. There’s going to be a lot of information.
The chair of the National transportation safety board (NTSB) and a team of investigators are expected to board the Dali ship later today to interview crew members and gather evidence.
Jennifer Homendy, speaking to Good Morning America, said investigators are combing through the ship’s data recorder in an attempt to recreate a timeline of Tuesday’s crash. She said:
We do have a download from the voyage data recorder that we’ve sent back to our lab to evaluate the data and begin to construct a timeline of events, which we hope to have later today.
“We aren’t looking at the structure today,” she added:
We will be boarding the vessel at some point today to begin to look at the devastation really, and then look through the vessel itself.
Divers have retrieved the ship’s data recorder, or black box, which investigators hope will develop a timeline of events leading up to the crash.
The US national transportation safety board confirmed that its crew went aboard the ship to recorder the data recorder from the Dali.
Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg also told CNN that if private companies are to blame for the bridge collapse, they will be held to account.
CNN quotes him as saying:
To be clear: if any private party is responsible and accountable for this, then they will be held accountable. But we can’t wait for that to play out to get to work right now.
The US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, warned of “major and protracted impact to supply chains” following the closure of the Port of Baltimore for the forseeable future after Tuesday’s catastrophic bridge collapse, though some experts said the impact was likely to be targeted to particular regions and industries.
Spanning more than 2km and with four lanes of traffic, the Francis Scott Key Bridge – a vital artery in Baltimore’s industrial heartland – took nine years to plan and almost five to build, but came down in under a minute after being struck by a cargo ship in the early hours of Tuesday.
Recovery efforts ‘top priority’ as authorities recover black box from container ship
Rescuers are focusing on finding six people presumed dead on Wednesday morning after the Baltimore Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday, as authorities said they had recovered the black box recorder from the ship.
Maryland governor Wes Moore told a press conference that recovery of the victims was a “top priority”. He said:
The top priority right now is still the recovery … I will instruct every single asset that we have, air land and water. My promise to [the families] is this: I will devote every single resource to making sure that you receive closure.
Baltimore’s mayor Brandon Scott told CNN on Wednesday morning:
That work is already dangerous, but will be even more so today, with the expected rain, the choppy waters and we all know about the debris and other things that they’ll be dealing with.
The six likely victims of the Baltimore bridge collapse on Tuesday all appeared to be construction workers from Latin American countries, according to reports, including a father of three, Miguel Luna, from El Salvador.
The immigrant services non-profit We Are Casa confirmed that Luna, 40, had lived in Maryland for at least 19 years.
“He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years,” its executive director, Gustavo Torres, said in a statement. Luna’s son Marvin told the Washington Post he knew his father was on the bridge but he had not heard of the tragedy until friends called him.
The foreign affairs ministry of Guatemala confirmed that two of the workers were nationals, though it did not name them. It said the Guatemalan consul general had spoken with family members.
The Associated Press also reported one of the men, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova, was from Honduras.
