A spokesman for the Maryland State Police said divers located a red pickup truck about 25 feet down and found the bodies of two victims trapped in the vehicle. The two were identified as a 35-year-old Mexican worker and a 26-year-old Guatemalan worker
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The bodies of two of the six workers who disappeared in the water after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, hit by a merchant ship around 1.30am (6.30am in Italy) on Tuesday morning, have been recovered. A Maryland State Police spokesman said divers located a red pickup truck about 25 feet down and found the bodies of two men trapped in the vehicle. The two were identified as a 35-year-old Mexican worker and a 26-year-old Guatemalan worker. The official toll reports six workers missing and considered dead.
The missing
All 6 missing people were of Central and South American origin. One of the two survivors is also Mexican. “Workers who worked a night shift, while most of us were sleeping”, underlined the Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg while the President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador wanted to remember the contribution of migrant workers to the American economy. “They do risky jobs in the middle of the night and for this reason they don’t deserve to be treated in a certain way by insensitive and irresponsible politicians,” he attacked with a clear reference to Donald Trump. On the investigation front, however, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recovered the black box of the cargo and began to interview the crew members. What is certain is that shortly before the crash the ship went into a “total blackout”. Now we need to understand why.
in-depth analysis
Baltimore bridge collapse, who are the 6 missing workers
Estimation of damages
48 hours after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the damage is starting to be counted in terms of reconstruction but also the impact that the paralysis of such a strategic commercial hub could have on a global level. The Biden administration “will do everything to reopen the port as soon as possible”, assured Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, implying that it will take “years” to rebuild the bridge and “months” to reopen the canal. “Reconstruction will not be quick, nor easy, nor cheap, but we will get it done,” he guaranteed in a press briefing at the White House. The president assured that the federal government will cover all expenses and asked Congress to support the operation by passing the infrastructure law.
in-depth analysis
Bridge collapse in Baltimore, here’s what we know
“No danger to the population”
As for the suspicion that there was dangerous material in some containers, US Coast Guard deputy commander Peter Gautier ruled it out. “There is no danger to the population”, assured the vice admiral, explaining that “the containers from the Dali ship that ended up in the water after the impact with the Baltimore bridge do not contain dangerous materials”. However, an elite Coast Guard team is examining thirteen damaged containers, some of which “contained materials for the Centers for Disease Control and hazardous materials” according to an informal communication from the Federal Agency for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure. According to the note, the possible leakage of over “6 million liters of diesel” is also being assessed.
