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BALTIMORE BRIDGE

Who are the victims of the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse? What we know about the 6 missing construction workers

The US Coast Guard has transitioned to a recovery effort for 6 missing road workers who were filling potholes on the Baltimore Key Bridge when it collapsed.

Search for the workers on the Baltimore Key Bridge continues
Mike SegarREUTERS

The crew on the Dali managed to issue a ‘mayday’ call moments before the container ship crashed into a support pylon of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. The incident caused a catastrophic collapse of the structure, but the warning gave first responders time to shut down most traffic on the four-lane bridge.

Unfortunately, there was a crew of eight road workers who were filling potholes that didn’t have time enough to get off before the structure fell out from under them. Two of them were pulled from the frigid waters of the Patapsco River, but the remaining six are still missing.

What we know about the 6 missing construction workers

The US Coast Guard has transitioned from a search and rescue mission to a recovery effort for the 6 construction workers who were working on the Baltimore Key Bridge when it collapsed that are still missing. There is no hope of finding the them alive due to the 46 degree water temperature and the amount of time that has passed since the accident according to Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath.

So far, just two of the victims have been identified by name but those of the others have not been released as of yet.

Who are the victims of the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse?

Miguel Luna from El Salvador, who had lived in Maryland for more than 19 years, was identified by CASA. The non-profit organization says that he left for work Monday night but didn’t return home to his wife and three children.

A second victim, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, was identified by the migrant protection service of Honduras. He had wife and two kids according to his brother. Sandoval had lived in the US for the past 18 years.

Of the other four victims, it’s reported that two were from Guatemala according to the country’s foreign affairs ministry, ages 26 and 35. And two were from Mexico as confirmed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday. He said that a third Mexican national was pulled from the water but, at the families’ behest, has declined give further information.

The Baltimore Banner reports that the workers lived in the Dundalk and Highlandtown according to Jesus Campos, an employee of contractor Brawner Builders. All of them had spouses and children.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, told the media outlet that the water in the bay where the crew was working is around 50 feet deep. He fears that they are dead, although there is no official word, given the water temperature and that they are probably trapped under the tons of wreckage of the bridge. “The company is in mourning and it’s a terrible, unanticipated tragedy,” he said.

According to local reporting there are around 50 divers from different agencies searching for the missing workers. However, the low visibility underwater, strong current and sharp metal have made it too dangerous to search in the mangled remains of the submerged bridge.

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