The six vanished after the Francis Scott Key Bridge disintegrated from the impact of a container ship that struck it early Tuesday. A search is now a recovery effort, officials said.
BALTIMORE — A major Baltimore bridge collapsed like a house of cards early Tuesday after it was struck by a container ship, sending six people to their deaths in the dark waters below and closing one of the country’s busiest ports.
By Tuesday evening, search-and-rescue efforts for six people who were working on the bridge when it collapsed had transitioned into a recovery mission, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon N. Gilreath said.
“We do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” he said, noting the water temperature and the amount of time that had passed since the ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused it to collapse around 1:30 a.m.
Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, earlier said that one person had survived. Their names were not released.
Earlier Tuesday as an extensive search was ongoing, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore held out hope that the missing people might be found and expressed heartbreak after officials suspended the active search for survivors.
"Our heart goes out to the families," he said after the active search was suspended. "I can’t imagine how painful today has been for these families, how painful these hours have been have been for these families."
It was a crushing blow to the loved ones of the missing men, who had waited for hours at a Royal Farms convenience store near the entrance of the bridge for word of their fate.
The tragic chain of events began early Tuesday when the cargo ship Dali notified authorities that it had lost power and issued a mayday moments before the 984-foot vessel slammed into a bridge support at a speed of 8 knots, which is about 9 mph.
Moore declared a state of emergency while rescue crews using sonar detected at least five vehicles in the frigid 50-foot-deep water: three passenger cars, a cement truck and another vehicle of some kind. Authorities do not believe anyone was inside the vehicles.
Investigators quickly concluded that it was an accident and not an act of terrorism.
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