BALTIMORE, United States: Emergency workers have suspended the search for six people missing after a major bridge collapse in the US city of Baltimore, border officials Tuesday evening said.
“Based on the length of time that we’ve gone in this search… (and) the water temperature… at this point we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” said Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath.
According to Maryland State Police, it’s now a recovery operation. “We do not believe that we are going to find any of these individuals still alive,” said Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath.
In the afternoon on Tuesday, Vice President Brawner Builders Executive, Jeffrey Pritzker said the missing employees were presumed to have died given the water’s depth and the length of time that had passed since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed.
“This was so completely unforeseen,” Pritzker said. “We don’t know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers. But we never foresaw that the bridge would collapse.”
The company didn’t reveal the identity of the employees, but María del Carmen Castellón told Telemundo 44 her husband, 49-year-old Miguel Luna, is one of them.
As access to the disaster zone is limited, family members were able to get in while they waited for news.
“They only tell us that we have to wait, that for now, they can’t give us information,” she said. “[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken, because we don’t know if they’ve rescued them yet. We’re just waiting to hear any news,” Castellón said.
People who live near the Baltimore Bridge said they are heartbroken by the collapse that destroyed it.
Rescuers pulled two workers from the Patapsco River. One was shifted to hospital and released hours later.
Several vehicles also fell into the river, although the authorities don’t think anyone was inside them.
Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd. Owns the ship. All crew members, including the two pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of injuries involving anyone who was on board, the company added.
