What we know about missing people in Baltimore bridge disaster

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Six people who fell into the water after a massive container ship collided with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge are presumed dead and the search for them has been suspended, says the US Coast Guard.

Workers and vehicles were on the bridge when a cargo ship Dali slammed into the bridge around 1.30am ET on Tuesday morning, causing its total collapse.

Two people have so far been rescued from the river — one of whom was in the hospital being treated for injuries. Still, more people are missing.

However, six people are still missing, all believed to be part of a construction crew: one person from Honduras, another from El Salvador, at least two from Guatemala and others from Mexico.

Now, family members have started to identify their loved ones who are now presumed dead, two of whom are Miguel Luna and Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, who both were working on the bridge at the time of the collapse.

Here’s what we know about the victims of the Baltimore bridge collapse:

Miguel Luna is the first of six victims to be named who went missing when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday.

Luna is one of the men who is now presumed dead, his wife María del Carmen Castellón told NBC sister station Telemundo 44 in Spanish.

When the bridge fell, it caused a colossal collapse and most were not allowed access to the disaster area; however, Ms Castellón said family members like her were able to get into the restricted zone while they desperately waited to hear news of their loved ones.

“They only tell us that we have to wait, that for now, they can’t give us information,” she said earlier in the day to the outlet.

“[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken, because we don’t know if they’ve rescued them yet. We’re just waiting to hear any news.”

One relative of Luna’s also told Sky News they were “distraught” as they waited to hear news, and that some family members were taken to a location in Baltimore by police, where they could be with other families of the other missing people.

Luna was one of six men who were working on the bridge when it was struck by the Dali container ship, causing a devastating collapse in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

His loved ones reportedly said he is from El Salvador and has children.

Luna was also identified by the non-profit organisation Casa, which provide services around Baltimore and other area to immigrant communities.

“Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, left at 6:30 p.m. Monday evening for work and since, has not come home. He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years,” Casa wrote in a statement.

One of Luna’s children, Marvin Luna, told The Washington Post that he knew his father was working on the Key Bridge overnight but did not know it collapsed until one of his friends called him up and said, “The bridge is … gone.”

Marvin then called his father’s phone, but there was no reply.

Another of the workers missing and presumed dead since the bridge collapse in Baltimore has been named as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, according to Martin Suazo, the man’s brother.

Martin, who lives in Honduras, told CNN that his family over in Baltimore called him to tell him that his brother was missing after the container ship crashed into the bridge, bringing the structure down.

Sandoval, originally from Azacualpa in Honduras, had been living in the United States for over 18 years. He was married, and had an 18-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter.

His brother said to the outlet that Sandoval was an entrepreneur who had started his own maintenance company.

Despite The Coast Guard announcing they have no reason to believe the workers are alive, Martin said his family are still holding onto hope that his brother could be found alive, or at least that his body will be recovered so they can give him a proper goodbye.

The Honduras Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio García also confirmed to The Associated Press that Sandoval was missing and that they had been in contact with Suazo’s family.

Little information has been revealed about those who have been rescued, found, and are still missing.

At least six people remain unaccounted for, authorities said on Tuesday.

Members of a construction crew, employed by contractor Brawner Builders, were refilling potholes when the incident occurred, officials said.

Brawner Builders employee Jesus Campos told The Baltimore Banner that the missing individuals are all men in their 30s and 40s.

They all have children and spouses, he said, and they are from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

“They are all hard-working, humble men,” Mr Campos told the outlet.

Amidst the unaccounted workers, two Guatemalan people are confirmed to be among them, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. One person is believed to be a 26-year-old from San Luis, Peten and another a 35-year-old from Camotan, Chiquimula; the ministry did not release their names.

The victims of the bridge collapse also include Mexican nationals, according to Rafael Laveaga, Chief of the Consular Section of Mexico’s Embassy in Washington, CNN said.

However, Mr Laveaga did not specify how many of the missing people were from Mexico. The Mexican Embassy also posted on X saying that Mexican people were among the workers.

Mr Campos told NBC that he had been working on the bridge only a month before this week’s tragic incident.

“It could’ve been me,” Mr Campos said. “Around a month ago I was working on the bridge… we had been moved to the day shift and they went at night.”

However, he believes that nothing could have been done to save the workers in time and evacuate them.

“It happened in the blink of an eye… It couldn’t be done,” he added.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, told the outlet that he does not believe the workers could have survived the shocking incident.

“We’re presuming that they are not alive, because they were thrown into the bay in an area that’s 50 feet deep, with 46-degree temperature, probably buried under tons of steel,” Mr Pritzker said.

“The company is in mourning and it’s a terrible, unanticipated tragedy.”

He also told NBC that the six missing people are presumed dead. The company previously confirmed to the outlet that one of its team members was working on the bridge at the time, but they did not specify it was one of Mr Campos’ coworkers.

The Coast Guard told reporters at a Tuesday evening press conference that the search was paused at 7.30pm ET, and would resume on Wednesday morning as a recovery effort with divers being used to search for bodies.

“I’d like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that we’ve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts we’ve put into it, the water temperature, that at this point we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” said Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath.

Source: independent.co.uk