March 27 (UPI) — A recovery search was underway Wednesday in the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse as the National Transportation Safety Board recovered the black box data recorder from the ship that hit the bridge.
Information from that data recorder is expected to be released later Wednesday, according to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.
“Right now, we do have the data record, which is essentially the ‘black box,'” Homendy told CNN. “We’ve sent that back to our lab to evaluate and begin to develop a timeline of events that led up to the strike on the bridge.”
Six construction workers are still missing and presumed dead. They were filling potholes when the bridge went down.
In a post on X, Mexico’s Washington, D.C. embassy said the workers included “Mexican, Guatemalan and Salvadoran people.”
The Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed two of its citizens are among the six missing workers.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said he met with the families of the missing, praying with them. He vowed to use every possible resource for the recovery mission.
“They were fathers, they were sons, they were husbands, They were people who their families relied on,” Moore said on NBC’s Today Show. “I’m going to make sure that we’re going to put every possible resource to bring a sense of closure to these families.”
Moore said recovery teams are facing treacherous conditions including frigid temperatures, rain and a moving tide along with mangled metal in the water.
According to Maryland Democratic Rep. David Trone, underwater drones will be used in the recovery search and they will be able to locate submerged vehicles.
The ship crashed into a support pillar for the bridge after losing power early Tuesday morning, immediately collapsing a large portion of the bridge.
CBS News, citing an unclassified memo from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the ship reported losing power as it left the Port of Baltimore. The ship alerted the Maryland Department of Transportation that it might hit the bridge due to losing control of the ship.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said there will be a long road to recovery for the Francis Scott Key Bridge and Baltimore’s port. He said every effort will be made to get the shipping channel reopened and the bridge rebuilt as soon as possible.
Buttigieg said that the port is the biggest vehicle-handling port in the country and the impact of the bridge collapse will be felt nationwide.
