Recovery mission still ongoing after Baltimore bridge collapse

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The search continued Wednesday for the bodies of six workers thrown from the Baltimore Key bridge when it collapsed.

Time is of the essence as dive teams work to locate the bodies in the Patapsco River and investigators try to salvage as many electronics from the damaged cargo ship as possible while they still work.

Officials briefly paused the search overnight due to dangerous conditions. Maryland Governor Wes Moore said he would do everything in his power to ensure the construction workers’ families receive closure. He praised the dive team’s efforts.

“And working in pitch dark conditions. In frigid temperatures. In high tides and high winds, who are looking and still searching,” said Moore.

President Joe Biden said he wants to provide as many federal resources as possible to open one of the busiest ports in the United States.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Department of Transportation has four main areas of focus. “Re-open the port. Deal with the supply chain implications until the port does re-open. Rebuild the bridge. And deal with the surface transportation implications until the bridge is rebuilt,” he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board retrieved the black box from the ship, which will allow them to piece together what happened minute-by-minute leading up to the crash.

There is no timetable for reopening the port, which is largely blocked by the collapsed bridge. The original bridge took five years to build.

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