March 27, 2024 - Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

Authorities are pausing search and recovery efforts for the four additional people who are presumed dead after the bridge collapse, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., the superintendent of Maryland State Police said Wednesday evening.

“At this point, based upon the conditions, we are now moving from a recovery mode to a salvage operation," he said.

The superintendent added that based on sonar scans, officials believe that the vehicles are "encased in the superstructure and concrete" of the bridge.

Butler Jr. added that there is "no definitive timeline" for how long the salvage phase will take, once it is complete, the divers will go back to the site.

“The sonar simply said they cannot get to that area because it was fully encased in the superstructure," he said. “Once that salvage effort takes place and that superstructure is removed, those same divers are going to go back out there and bring those people closure," he added.

The headline and post have been updated with additional comments from Butler Jr.

The brother of a person presumed dead after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed earlier this week described him as a "man who dreamed big."

He told CNNE in Honduras on Wednesday that his brother was an industrial mechanical technician and went to the United States to fulfill his dreams. However, after the pandemic, Maynor Suazo Sandoval had to look for an additional job to have more income and found work at a bridge supervision and maintenance company.

Martin Suazo Sandoval said his brother believed in helping people, and sponsored minor sports leagues because he believed that by "helping the children here in the town, they would have a better childhood".

Martin Suazo Sandoval said what they want most is for their brother's body to be found "so we can begin to take steps to repatriate him."

After the Dali ship sent out its first mayday signal, first responders leapt into action to both move people off the bridge and prevent other cars from entering it, Maryland's governor said.

They were also notifying workers who were part of a construction crew on the bridge to leave, Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday, as officials learn more about what happened in the moments before the collision and collapse.

The governor said the ongoing investigation will reveal more of what happened and how those responders communicated with the workers. He said this particular worker who survived said he heard the warning "audibly," that the officer was telling him to move off.

Officials have recovered the bodies of two of the missing workers who were on the Francis Scott Key bridge when it collapsed, the head of the Maryland State Police said Wednesday.

Col. Roland L. Butler Jr. said that shortly before 10 a.m. ET divers found a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water.

He said Maryland State Police notified the families of those found about an hour ago. Their names were given as:

The workers, who were filling potholes on the bridge at the time of the incident, were from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, officials said.

Butler Jr. confirmed that both men whose bodies were found today were working for the construction company. One was identified by a driver’s license in his pocket, the other was identified by fingerprint, he said.

The post has been updated with more details from the news conference, including the correct spelling of the victims' names after an update from authorities.

An inspector who was contracted by the state of Maryland with an engineering firm overseeing work was among victims that fell into the water following the Key Bridge collapse, according to Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said investigations continue on what happened on the ship and there are no declarative answers on possible power challenges or issues on the Dali.

Baltimore's mayor asked for people to have "a little bit of decency and respect" when it comes to online discourse about the fatal bridge collapse.

The head of Maryland State Police announced earlier that dive teams recovered the bodies of two people in the river on Wednesday. At least four other people are unaccounted for and presumed dead, the Coast Guard said.

If anyone is found liable in the events that led to the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, they will be pursued to add funds to the cost-share in rebuilding, US Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Wednesday evening.

Maryland officials are working on plans to reconstruct the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed earlier this week, Sen. Ben Cardin said.

Cardin thanked the Biden administration and federal partners for their help so far. He called on Congress to "provide the necessary authorizations, support and resources to make this recovery complete and that we can move as quickly as possible."

He said, still, the top priority is to reopen the shipping lanes and minimize harm to the economy.