Crews in Baltimore worked Saturday to refloat the first piece of wreckage from the water after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, a tangible sign of progress in the daunting effort to reopen the busy waterway.
Vice Adm. Shannon Gilreath of the U.S. Coast Guard told a news conference that his crew intended to raise the first segment of the bridge “just north of the deep draft shipping channel.” He added: “Just like running a marathon, you have to take the first few steps.”
The bridge was a key transportation link to one of the largest ports in the United States, and its collapse is costing the region and the country thousands and thousands of dollars the longer it’s closed. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said greater than 8,000 dock staff were directly affected.
Mr. Moore said cutting out and removing the northern sections of the bridge “will ultimately allow us to open a temporary restricted channel that will help us get more vessels into the water near the collapse site.”
Officials overseeing the cleanup added Saturday that rescue teams will use gas-powered cutters to systematically separate sections of the steel bridge, which is able to then be taken to a landfill.
Work began lower than per week after the giant container ship generally known as Dali suffered an entire blackout and struck the bridge, killing six construction staff and pushing the bridge into the Patapsco River.
The stays of two men were recovered, but the seek for the others, who were presumed dead, ended when officials deemed conditions too dangerous for divers to find them.
On Saturday, Moore said officials had not forgotten the seek for the missing victims, all of whom were immigrants from Mexico and Central America. “As soon as these conditions change,” the relevant authorities assured him, “rescue divers will immediately return to the water.”
The disaster forged a very dark cloud over the growing Latino community in and around Baltimore, where communities similar to Highlandtown, Dundalk and Glen Burnie have been transformed by waves of Latin American immigrants. All the victims undertook the often dangerous work of repairing potholes and maintaining the bridge.
Authorities, relatives and support groups serving the Latino community identified at least five victims: Jose López, 30; Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore; Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, Dundalk, Md.; Miguel Luna, 40, from El Salvador; and Mayor Yasir Suazo Sandoval, a thirtysomething from Honduras.
Authorities said the bodies of Fuentes and Cabrera were found Wednesday.
On Saturday, Mr. Moore took a moment to address the victims’ families in Spanish. “They are in our hearts. They are in our thoughts, today and perpetually,” he said.
Standing near the wreckage, Mr. Moore reiterated Saturday that state and federal authorities have a long road to recovery ahead of them. However, he said at least 377 people were working on the rescue operation and that the pace of round-the-clock implementation of the project would increase in the coming days.
“We will act as quickly as possible,” he said.
Anna Betty reporting contributed.
