Baltimore Key Bridge collapse latest information: Workers begin eradicating piece of wreckage from water

Four our bodies are nonetheless lacking after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday morning.

Divers discovered the 2 victims trapped in a crimson pickup truck just a little earlier than 10 am on Wednesday in about 25 toes of water across the bridge’s center span.

They had been recognized as building staff Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Maryland.

Meanwhile, 4 different lacking building staff stay unaccounted for.

On Tuesday, officers mentioned two folks had been rescued alive from the water. One was unhurt whereas the opposite was in a critical situation.

Though search efforts had been beforehand paused, Maryland authorities say that rescue divers are at present “on standby” and can return to the waters when situations enhance.

Rebuilding Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge may very well be a prolonged course of and can rely upon whether or not any of the remaining buildings might be salvaged.

Experts say it may take wherever from 18 months to a number of years.

It took 5 years to assemble the unique bridge from 1972-1977.

A freeway in Oklahoma was quickly shut on Saturday after a barge struck a bridge over the Arkansas River.

State patrol troopers closed US Highway 59 about 1:25 pm after receiving phrase of the incident and diverted visitors from the world,l spokesperson Sarah Stewart mentioned.

The bridge, which crosses the Arkansas River the place it enters the Robert S Kerr Reservoir, was later inspected and the freeway reopened to visitors round 4 pm.

“Engineers inspected the structure and found it safe to reopen,” the Oklahoma Department of Transportation mentioned in an e mail.

There had been no experiences of accidents on the freeway or the barge, and the reason for the collision stays unknown.

Authorities say that rescue divers will return to the waters surrounding the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge as quickly as situations enhance. Recovery and salvage missions had been beforehand referred to as off attributable to water temperatures and different hazards.

At a press convention on Saturday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore informed reporters: “Right now, the conditions make it unsafe for rescue divers. But as soon as those conditions change, Colonel [Roland] Butler has assured me that those rescue divers will be going right back in the water.”

Colonel Butler, Maryland State Police Chief, later added: “The Maryland State Police continue to be an active part of the Unified Command. As governor Moore mentioned, the brave members of our underwater rescue teams remain on standby.

“They will resume their recovery efforts once a unified command has informed them it is safe to resume diving operations.”

Crews began lifting the primary part of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday, a transfer aimed toward permitting access for barges and tugboats to succeed in the catastrophe website.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath mentioned {that a} collaborative effort involving groups from the Coast Guard, the US Navy’s salvage arm, and the US Army Corps of Engineers is underway.

The staff are at present specializing in lifting a bit of the bridge whereas leaving the crumpled half resting on the bow of the Dali, the container ship accountable for the bridge collapse, officers mentioned.

The operation on Saturday concerned slicing a chunk simply north of the channel and lifting it with a 160-ton marine crane onto a barge. A bigger, 1,000-ton crane can also be deployed on the bridge website.

Once lifted, the piece shall be transported to Tradepoint Atlantic, the previous Bethlehem Steel Mill website, which is being remodeled right into a distribution centre.

Governor Wes Moore declined to supply a timeline for this portion of the clearance work.

“It’s not going to take hours,” he mentioned. “It’s not going to take days, however as soon as we full this section of the work, we will transfer extra tugs and extra barges and extra boats into the world to speed up our restoration.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg referred to as it “upsetting” that within the face of tragedy – the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge – conspiracy theories have circulated to elucidate what brought on the catastrophe that left six folks to be presumed useless.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pointed on the market have been “wild conspiracy theories” about what brought on the catastrophe, starting from a cyberattack, the captain having unwanted effects from a Covid-19 vaccine, and blaming the Obamas.

She requested Mr Buttigieg whether or not he thought he must fight these conspiracy theories within the midst of a disaster?

“We’re in the business of dealing with roads and bridges and sometimes ships and trains,” he mentioned. “So we are not in the habit as a Department of Transportation, of being in the business of dealing with conspiracies, or conspiracy theories or that kind of wild thinking. But unfortunately, it is a fact of life in America today.

“What’s really upsetting is when misinformation or disinformation circulates, that is not without victims.

“This is a human tragedy,” Mr Buttigieg mentioned, including that six males misplaced their lives.