BALTIMORE — Search teams on Wednesday pulled two bodies out of a vehicle in the Patapsco River at the site of the Baltimore bridge collapse.
Around 10 a.m., divers located a red pickup truck under 25 feet of water in the area of the middle-span of the collapsed bridge.
Two bodies were pulled from the vehicle. They were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, who lives in Baltimore – and is originally from Mexico; and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, who lives in Dundalk – and is originally from Guatemala.
After additional searching, officials have determined there are additional vehicles in the water, but they are trapped under the superstructure of the fallen bridge and cannot be reached.
To that end, the recovery operation is ending and a salvage operation is beginning.
The goal, of course, will be to recover the remaining victims who died in this bridge collapse, but also to reopen the channel to ship traffic and to reopen the Port of Baltimore.
All of the victims in the bridge collapse were originally from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the divers faced dangerous conditions.
“They are down there in darkness where they can literally see about a foot in front of them," he said Wednesday. "They are trying to navigate mangled metal, and they’re also in a place it is now presumed that people have lost their lives."
The bridge collapsed just before 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and Moore said rescue divers were in the water by 2:25 a.m.
Moore said Wednesday that the state officially requested emergency relief funds from the federal government to help with the massive operation.
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