The first of the six people missing presumed dead after the tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore has been named.
A 1.6 mile-long part of the Francis Scott Key Bridge fell into the Patapsco River in southeastern Baltimore City, near the city's major seaport. The carries Route I-695 across the river, also known as the Baltimore Beltway, which is one of Maryland's busiest highways.
Miguel Luna, 49, from El Salvador, has been named as one of the people on the bridge when it collapsed after being hit by the cargo ship Dali.
Six construction workers, who were working on the bridge fixing potholes, are presumed to be dead by their employer - Brawner Builders.
Read more: Baltimore Key bridge 'couldn't survive' ship's huge impact as 'key safety element' was destroyed
Miguel Luna's wife María del Carmen Castellón told Telemundo 44 in Spanish: “They only tell us that we have to wait, that for now, they can’t give us information,” she said 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.“
A Honduran man, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova, is also among the missing men.
Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the crew was working in the middle of the bridge’s span when the crash happened and crumbled the bridge.
He also revealed one worker survived.
The collapse happened at around 1.30am local time (5.30am UK time). Baltimore Governor Wes Moore has declared a State of Emergency over the incident which has been described as a "mass casualty event."
The bodies of the missing workers have not yet been recovered, but they are presumed to have died given the water’s depth and the amount of time that has passed since the crash, he said.
Radio traffic obtained from the Broadcastify.com archive indicates officers were just about to alert a construction crew when a major bridge in Baltimore collapsed after being hit by a container ship that had lost power.
The Maryland Transportation Authority first responder radio traffic includes a dispatcher putting out a call saying a ship had lost its steering ability and asking officers to stop all traffic. It took officers less than two minutes to stop traffic on the bridge.
One officer who had stopped traffic radioed that he was going to drive onto the bridge to notify the construction crew once a second officer arrived. But seconds later, a frantic officer radioed that the bridge had collapsed.
The six people still unaccounted for were part of the construction crew, which was filling potholes on the bridge.
Donald Heinbuch, a retired fire chief for Baltimore, said he was startled awake by a deep rumbling that shook his house for several seconds.
“It felt like an earthquake,” he said. “Or like rolling thunder.”
Heinbuch turned on his police scanner and discovered the noise had come from the nearby bridge, a favored fishing spot that he’d driven over countless times. He said he rushed to the scene in shock.
“The ship was there, and the bridge was in the water, like it was blown up,” he said.
Heinbuch said he watched divers slip into their gear and coordinate a rescue plan as pontoon boats made their way to shore. Several departments also offered help, he said.
“All these little things that we practiced all the time had to be put in place,” Heinbuch said. “Everyone acted fast ... even as the significance of what had happened was still sinking in.”