Cranes Arrive As Families Remember Victims Of Baltimore Bridge Collapse

BALTIMORE, MD — Three cranes have been placed in the channel at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and at least one more is on the way to aid in moving 4,000 tons of debris after Tuesday's collapse, according to a report.

Meanwhile, families and loved ones are speaking out and painting portraits of the six lives lost when a massive cargo ship struck one of the main supports of the bridge spanning the Patapsco River.

On Friday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore spoke near the Chesapeake 1000, a crane that earned its name because it can lift one thousand tons of debris, WJZ reported.

"I've been informed by the Navy that they are supplying us with four heavy-lift cranes," Moore said at a Friday afternoon news conference reported by WJZ. "Two have already arrived. One arrives (Friday night) and the fourth is arriving on Monday."

At least seven floating cranes are expected to aid in the complex salvage operation, as well as 10 tugboats, nine barges, eight salvage vessels, and five Coast Guard boats.

Read all of Patch's Key Bridge collapse coverage here.

Before salvage efforts begin, crews must map the river and the debris both above and below the waterline, reports said. Meanwhile, experts are trying to figure out how to “break that bridge up into the right-sized pieces that we can lift,” U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said Friday at a news conference.

On Friday, Moore called the task "daunting."

“With a salvage operation this complex — and frankly with a salvation operation this unprecedented — you need to plan for every single moment,” Moore added.

The wreckage has blocked ships from entering or leaving the vital port and also stymied the search for four missing workers.

“We have to bring a sense of closure to these families,” Moore said.

Police managed to close bridge traffic seconds before a cargo ship slammed into one of the Key Bridge’s supports, causing the span to fall into the frigid Patapsco River. There wasn't time for a maintenance crew filling potholes on the span to get to safety.

Eight men fell into the Patapsco River when the bridge collapsed. Only two survived.

The bodies of two men were found in a pickup truck, including that of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk.

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 38, was one of the workers on the bridge when the boat struck, along with Miguel Luna from El Salvador. A fifth victim — 35-year-old Jose Mynor Lopez — is also presumed dead.

Government officials and families have not named the last man who has not been found.

The men worked for Brawner Builders, a Baltimore County-based construction company, the Baltimore Banner reported. Jesus Campos told the Banner he knew the “hardworking, humble men” who died, he said.

Each one came to Baltimore for a better life and to help the loved ones they left behind in their home countries, Campos told the Banner.

Sandoval was the youngest of eight siblings from Azacualpa, a rural mountainous area in northwestern Honduras along the border with Guatemala.

Eighteen years ago, he set out on his own for the U.S. looking for opportunities. He had worked as an industrial technician in Honduras, repairing equipment in the large assembly plants, but the pay was too low to get ahead, one of his brothers, Martín Suazo Sandoval, said Wednesday while standing in the dirt street in front of the family’s small hotel in Honduras.

“He always dreamed of having his own business,” he said.

On Thursday, WJZ's Alexus Davila spoke with Lopez's wife, who said anxiety and pain haunt her every second that her husband is not in her arms.

"I feel bad," Franco told WJZ in Spanish. "Only God knows how hard my heart aches. Maybe he was desperate, trying to escape."

Franco told WJZ her husband had a good heart and was a hard worker.

"He was always worried about his family too," she said. "He died but he was fighting for us always."

In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said three Mexicans were on the bridge when it fell, including one who was injured but rescued and two who were still missing.

The tragedy illustrated the contributions that migrants make to the U.S. economy, López Obrador said.

"This demonstrates that migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight. And for this reason, they do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States," he said.

President Joe Biden’s administration has approved $60 million in immediate aid, and Biden has said the federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge, which was completed in 1977 and carried Interstate 695.

Ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore remains suspended, but the Maryland Port Administration said in a statement Friday that trucks were still being processed at marine terminals.

Federal and state officials have said the collision and collapse appeared to be an accident that came after the ship lost power. Investigators are still trying to determine why.

The cargo ship Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, had been headed from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk.

The loss of a road that carried 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters, but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.

Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, said the union was scrambling to help its roughly 2,400 members whose jobs are at risk of drying up.

“If there’s no ships, there’s no work,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.