More than 14 hours after the Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed in Baltimore, authorities stopped search and rescue operations for at least six people who were working on the bridge when it was struck by a container ship early Tuesday.
Miguel Luna, 49, is one of the men now presumed dead, his wife María del Carmen Castellón told our sister station Telemundo 44 in Spanish.
While access to the disaster zone is restricted, family members like Castellón were able to get in while they waited for news.
“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.“
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Jesús Campos said he's worked construction for Brawner Builders, alongside some of the missing, for years and that last night his coworkers were replacing concrete on the bridge.
“Watching what’s happening makes my heart hurt. We’re human beings and they’re my coworkers,” he said. “God willing, they’re alive. It’s what we’re hoping for most.”
Earlier, two people were rescued from the waters of the Patapsco River. One individual declined medical assistance and a second has been released from the hospital, according to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
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The search operations were concentrated just where the remnants of the bridge plunged into the frigid waters.
Brawner Builders Executive Vice President Jeffrey Pritzker confirmed to NBC News that the six missing people are presumed dead. The company had previously confirmed to NBC News that one of its teams was working on the bridge, but did not say specifically if it was Campos’ coworkers.
By nightfall Tuesday, Coast Guard and Maryland State Police said they were suspending search efforts and moving to a recovery mission.
“It could’ve been me,” Campos said. “Around a month ago I was working on the bridge… we had been moved to the day shift and they went at night.”
Luna’s loved ones say he is from El Salvador and has six children.
Campos said he doesn’t believe the workers could have been evacuated.
“It happened in the blink of an eye… It couldn’t be done,” he said.
Telemundo 44 was able to access a list of names believed to be of the group of workers that were on the bridge during the collapse. Though they appear to be Hispanic, authorities have not provided details on the identities of the victims.
“They’re fathers. They’re people who come to earn their daily bread,” Campos said.
According to Campos, the victims came from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico and became part of the community in Dundalk and Highlandtown.
As night fell, a somber Maryland Gov. Wes Moore expressed compassion for the families of those lost.
“I can’t imagine how painful today has been for these families, how painful these hours," he said. "Even though we've transitioned from a search and rescue to now a recovery mission, we will use every asset to make sure they find a sense of closure."
Around the bridge, members of the community gathered to express support for the victims and their families wait for more information.
