The search for six missing men, all construction workers who fell from the Patapsco River, following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has been called off.
Coast Guard rear admiral Shannon Gilreath said there was no hope of finding the missing men alive due to the frigid water and the length of time elapsed since the accident.
The collapse occurred after a ship collided around with the bridge around 1am on Tuesday, in Baltimore, Maryland. Two people were rescued from the water, with one in critical condition and the other rejecting medical attention. Officials said eight men were originally unaccounted for.
“Based on the length of time that we’ve gone in this search the extensive search efforts that have gone into it, the water temperature, at this point we do not believe we are going to find these individuals alive,” the official said.
“The coast guard’s not going away, none of our partners are going away, but we’re just going to transition into a different phase.”
The cargo-carrying vessel, called the Dali, crashed into a pillar of the bridge approximately 30 minutes after setting sail on its 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.
Discussion about this post