The first victim of the Baltimore bridge collapse has been identified.
After a large cargo ship lost power and crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge early on Tuesday (March 26), several vehicles and eight construction workers plunged into the Patapsco River. Two people were rescued and six remain missing.
The US Coast Guard has now stated it is suspending its search and rescue efforts for the six people still missing, who are now presumed dead, per BBC News.
“I’d like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that we’ve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts we’ve put into it, the water temperature, that at this point we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday evening, via CNN.
“We are going to suspend the active search and rescue efforts. Coast Guard’s not going away, none of our partners are going away, but we’re just going to transition to a different phase,” Gilreath added.
Now, the first of the six missing men has been named.
Miguel Luna, 49, from El Salvador, was one of the people on the bridge when it plunged into the river after being struck by the Singapore-flagged container ship the Dali.
Construction workers had been working to fix potholes on the bridge for Brawner Builders. Six of the workers are missing and presumed dead following the catastrophic bridge collapse. No bodies have been found as of yet.
According to the Guatemalan consulate, two of the men were from Guatemala. One of the men was in his 20s, another in his 30s, and another worker was a 40-year-old father of three from El Salvador. The six missing men were immigrants to the United States, from Latino backgrounds.
Luna's wife, Maria del Carmen Castellon, has since spoken to Spanish-language outlet Telemundo 4. She said: "They only tell us that we have to wait, that for now, they can't give us information," earlier in the day.
"[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken because we don't know if they've rescued them yet. We're just waiting to hear any news."
Jeffrey Pritzker, the executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the team had been working on the middle section of the bridge when it was struck by the vessel, NBC News reports.
One of the workers managed to survive the ordeal.
Early on Tuesday (March 26), a call came over the Maryland Transportation Authority's first responder radio. A ship had lost its ability to steer and authorities were tasked with stopping traffic.
It took no more than a couple of minutes for officials to stop traffic on the bridge.
Officials are now focusing on finding the bodies of the six construction workers still missing after the collision.
Early on Wednesday (March 27), a team of divers went into the river and began its search for bodies.
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