2 bodies recovered after bridge collapsed in US city of Baltimore

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – The bodies of two of the six missing construction workers from the collapsed bridge in the US city of Baltimore were recovered, authorities said on Wednesday.

Maryland state police Superintendent Roland Butler Jr. said divers found the two bodies trapped in a red pickup truck a little before 10 a.m. in about 25 feet of water around the bridge's middle span.

The victims were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Maryland.

Authorities resumed a search Wednesday for six missing construction workers who are presumed dead after a massive cargo ship struck Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse on Tuesday.

Even though four are still missing, Butler said the efforts will now transition from recovery to a salvage operation.

The workers were on break at the time of the collapse and had been sitting in their trucks to warm up, he said.

Divers are no longer able to safely navigate or operate due to concrete and debris.

"We firmly believe the vehicles are encased in the superstructure and concrete that we tragically saw come down,” he added.

Video of the crash on social media appears to show the ship partially losing power at least twice as a plume of thick black smoke poured out of the container vessel. The ship then rammed into one of the bridge's support pillars, causing it to collapse about a second later.

Authorities have said the ship was able to send out a mayday call, allowing law enforcement to halt traffic on the bridge and likely save the lives of those who would have otherwise been transiting across it.

The Key Bridge was one of three main arteries used to transit the Baltimore Harbor, with roughly 35,000 people using it daily for commutes. It spanned the entryway to the harbor where the vital Port of Baltimore is located. All commercial ship traffic has been halted to allow for search efforts to continue.