A body has reportedly been discovered during the search for six missing construction workers who fell into the river when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed.
“We are hearing one body was found,” Baltimore City Council Member Phylicia Porter said on CNN.
The bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning, Feb. 26, after a ship collided with it, leaving vehicles submerged and bridge construction workers missing.
Footage shows rescue teams searching the Patapsco River in the aftermath of the bridge collapse. Teams can be seen pointing flashlights around the murky waters as they search for those missing in the catastrophe.
Five vehicles are currently submerged in the river, with six construction workers unaccounted for who had been working on the bridge when it went down.
Maryland authorities are using sonar to search for people who fell into the 47F water as they were working to repair potholes on the 185-foot bridge when it collapsed.
Officials have since said they have spotted five vehicles underwater thanks to infrared and side-scan sonar technology – three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and a fifth vehicle.
Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision, which occurred at about 1.30am. The ship was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge. Moore said the ship’s crew managed to issue a ‘mayday’ before it crashed into the bridge, which allowed officials to stop cars from going on the bridge.
“We’re thankful that between the ‘mayday’ and collapse that-that we had officials who were able to begin the stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge,” Moore added.
Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said eight people were on the bridge when it collapsed, and two of them were rescued from the water, with one declining medical treatment and the other being taken to the hospital.
Wiedefeld said: “We know there were individuals on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge, contractors for us.”
He said the workers were “basically doing some concrete deck repair”, but said they did not know how many vehicles were involved.
