The authorities of the state of Maryland, in the United States, suspended the search for the missing people who fell into the Patapsco River, in the city of Baltimore, after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed following a cargo ship crash.
This decision makes it clear that six people have been presumed dead and have not been found since the disaster occurred on Tuesday, March 26.
These people were part of repair work that was being carried out in the middle of the bridge’s highway during the exact moment in which the container ship Dalí collided with one of the main pillars of the structure.
After the incident, Brawner Builders, the company that employed the workers, indicated it was concerned about them.
The company’s executive vice president, Jeffrey Pritzker, said the workers had fallen from a considerable height into the icy waters of the river, and that their chances of survival diminished as time went by.
These would have fallen from a height of almost 20 meters amid the rubble of thousands of tons of steel and concrete. Added to all this were the strong currents and low water temperatures, which can reach 6 degrees Celsius during this time of year.
For now, authorities have not reported any other possible victims. In that sense, it was reported that the sonars located five vehicles submerged in the waters, although initially it had been estimated that there were about 20.
It is presumed that these means of transportation correspond to those of Brawner Builder workers.
According to the media Sky News, the cargo ship suffered technical problems that left it without power. The crew realized that she could not change course and that she was moving towards the pillar, so they made an emergency call alerting the authorities.
For their part, officials from the Maryland Transportation Authority closed the bridge, preventing more people from entering or leaving, however, the workers did not manage to leave in time.
While the death of these workers is regrettable, the emergency call by the Dalí crew and the quick response by the Baltimore authorities allowed the number of victims to decrease.
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