Divers will plunge into the Patapsco River Wednesday as part of the Coast Guard’s plan to find six workers who were on the Key Bridge in Baltimore when it collapsed.
Divers will plunge back into the Patapsco River around 6 a.m. Wednesday as part of the U.S. Coast Guard’s plan to recover the bodies of six construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning when a cargo ship rammed into the bridge’s base, collapsing the structure.
“Our heart goes out to the families,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Tuesday night. “I can’t imagine how painful today has been for these families, how painful these hours have been for these families.”
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Even though the operation has shifted away from search and rescue, Moore said there’s still a sense of urgency in the recovery mission.
“We will use every asset to make sure they find a sense of closure, and that’s a commitment that we will keep for these families,” Moore said.
Two other workers were rescued, with one of them remaining in serious condition Tuesday night, Moore said. The other was uninjured. Their crew was repairing potholes on the bridge when the container ship slammed into the bridge, Paul Wiedefeld, the state’s transportation secretary, said.
Reports came in around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday that a large vessel had crashed into a column in the central part of the bridge that carries north and southbound lanes of Interstate 695. It’s not clear what caused the actual crash, but the ship’s crew notified authorities of a power issue through a mayday call before it struck the bridge.
Because of the warning, Moore said port authority workers were able to stop traffic and prevent more vehicles from traveling onto the bridge.
“These people are heroes,” Moore said. “They saved lives last night.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with a spokesperson saying Tuesday that investigators hadn’t yet boarded the ship to make room for the Coast Guard’s search efforts. Once that happens and the NTSB accesses recorders on board, it will have more information on what went wrong.
“The preliminary investigation points to an accident,” Moore said.
Baltimore’s Key Bridge was built in 1977 and named for the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It spans the Patapsco River, a vital artery that, along with the Port of Baltimore, is a hub for shipping on the East Coast.
