Two victims of Baltimore bridge collapse named after bodies found 'trapped in truck' by divers
27 March 2024, 22:22 | Updated: 27 March 2024, 22:35
Two victims who fell into the water where the Baltimore bridge collapsed on Tuesday have been named after their bodies were recovered.
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In a press meeting on Wednesday, Ronald L Butler from Maryland State Police confirmed divers had found the bodies of two victims trapped in a truck in the water.
Mr Butler said: "The teams made a tragic finding shortly before 10:00 ET (14:00 GMT) with a red pickup truck near the bridge. Divers recovered two victims trapped within the vehicle."
The two men were named as 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentez of Baltimore, and 26-year-old Darlene Rania El Castillo Cabrera of Dundalk.
He said both men's families have been informed.
Mr Butler also confirmed that on Wednesday morning the search and rescue operation was moved to a search and recovery after a total of six workers were thrown into the cold waters of the Patapsco River in the disaster.
He also said further efforts to recover the remaining victims were being suspended due to the dangerous conditions of the water caused.
An official said police have used sonar scans and believe that the remaining vehicles are “encased in superstructure and concrete” that fell into the water during the collapse.
Four others still remain missing and given the time the workers have been missing and the water temperatures, they are presumed dead.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said he spoke to the families of the victims and assured them he would "put every possible resource to bring [them] a sense of closure".
Read more: Tributes paid to two construction workers missing and presumed dead after Baltimore bridge collapse
Police audio catches moment Baltimore Bridge collapses
It comes after it emerged today that the 'Black Box' data recorder from the cargo ship that destroyed the Baltimore bridge had been recovered.
Investigators will be able to analyse the data it contains to try and establish what caused the collision.
Audio of a police distress call has also been released.
The Dali ship issued a mayday moments before the crash in the early hours of Tuesday morning, meaning authorities were able to close off the Key Bridge to regular traffic.
About a minute and a half after the mayday call, police can be heard trying to stop people coming onto the bridge.
One person is heard on the call: "I need one of you guys on the south side, one of you guys on the north side, hold all traffic on the Key Bridge.
"There's a ship approaching that just lost their steering so until we get that under control, we've got to stop all traffic.He added:
"The whole bridge just fell down. Start everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed".
Someone else responds: "Do we know if all traffic was stopped?"
He added: "I can’t get to the other side sir - the bridge is down."
