March 27, 2024 - Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are the countries of origin for the six people who are presumed dead following the bridge collapse, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., the superintendent of Maryland State Police, said Wednesday at a news conference.

Maryland has submitted a request to President Joe Biden's administration for emergency relief funds "to assist in our work going forward," Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday.

Moore said he spoke to Biden Wednesday by phone.

Remember: Biden pledged the full support of the federal government in the response and recovery efforts after Tuesday’s collapse. His administration has already conveyed a sense of urgency to open up federal funding to remove debris and ultimately rebuild the bridge.

The collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge is a global crisis, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said, re-iterating the importance of the bridge in global trade and economy.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the search and recovery operation following the collapse of a key Baltimore bridge is now focused on bringing closure to the families of those presumed dead.

Six people who were on the bridge have been missing and are presumed dead, a Coast Guard official said previously. There has been a search and recovery operation going on since Tuesday evening.

The governor said divers were in the water at 6 a.m. ET Wednesday for search and recovery efforts.

“This is not a conclusion, it’s a continuation and we take this phase just as seriously and just as personally as we took the last phase,” he said.

Officials including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Ben Cardin and Sen. Chris Van Hollen are providing updates on efforts underway following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday.

What happened: The bridge toppled shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday when the Dali, a 213-million-pound cargo vessel, lost power while trying to leave the port and smashed into one of the bridge’s support columns, sending people and cars into the frigid Patapsco River.

Eight construction workers were believed to be mending potholes on the bridge when it fell, according to officials. Two survived and were pulled from the water but the remaining six are presumed dead due to the prolonged search time and cold conditions.

The brother of Maynor Suazo Sandoval — one of the six victims presumed dead in the Key Bridge collapse – said the victims' families were informed of the news conference with the Maryland governor and other top officials that was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.

However, they have not been told what to expect, Carlos Suazo Sandoval said. He added that they plan to attend and ask questions. 

The news conference had yet to begin as of 5:35 p.m. ET and an official said the delay was due to traffic issues for some of the attendees.

When a container ship slammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, it led to the disastrous collapse that left six people presumed dead and took out one of the region’s key infrastructure links.

But it wasn’t the first time that kind of impact had happened: Four decades earlier, another container ship that also lost power hit the same bridge — and it stood strong.

The drastic difference in outcomes between the two accidents is an example of the dangers caused by the massive increase in shipping vessel size in the intervening decades. It’s also raising questions about whether changes in the bridge’s design could have prevented the deadly collapse.

A CNN review of public records and interviews with about a dozen bridge and shipping experts show that hundreds of bridges over US waterways were built decades ago when container ships were a fraction of the size and weight they are today. Bridges of the era when the Key Bridge was built weren’t designed to protect against collisions with ships as big as the Dali, the vessel that caused the Baltimore catastrophe.

Some experts said that this week’s disaster should inspire engineers to reevaluate whether America’s aging infrastructure can withstand impacts from the gigantic ships that transit our waterways today.

Read CNN's full investigation and see how modern vessels stack up with aging bridges.

Federal authorities now said there are 11 ships, in addition to the Dali cargo vessel, stuck inside the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. 

The Transportation Department told CNN on Wednesday that it corrected the data to reflect an additional vessel stranded behind the fallen bridge.

Officials now say that the following vessels are stranded at the port:

This post has been updated with the latest information on the vessels in the post.

Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN’s Phil Mattingly his agency is focused on four things following the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore:

Buttigieg called the reopening of the port the most “acute short-term concern” especially for the workers impacted with about $2 million a day being lost in wages, he said. 

Other ships stuck at the port have to be unloaded and have cargo offloaded and transported by land to get to other ports during this closure, which Buttigieg described it as a “complicated operation.”  

Parties that are found accountable for the incident will be held liable, Buttigieg promised, but said that process will now slow the process of reopening the port.

“It will not be quick and it will not be easy, but we’re committed to do it as long as it takes,” he said.