The body of a fifth person killed after cargo ship Dali rammed a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, leading to its collapse into the Patapsco River, was recovered on Wednesday during ongoing recovery and cleanup efforts.
The Baltimore Police Department identified the victim on X Thursday as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, of Glen Burnie, Maryland.
Gonzalez, 49, was one of six construction workers missing and presumed dead in the March 26 bridge collapse.
According to Unified Command, a joint task force made up of police, coast guard and other government agencies to respond to the disaster, salvage teams located one of the missing construction vehicles and immediately notified Maryland State Police.
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Police and the FBI then recovered the body in a red truck, officials said.
Eight workers from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico were fixing potholes on the bridge when it collapsed, and two were rescued.
The sixth victim remained missing on Thursday.
“We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family,” said Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, in a statement. “Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.”
The Dali ship is expected to be removed from the wreckage site by early May before the opening of a deeper temporary channel at the Port of Baltimore.
The 45-foot-deep channel is expected to be operational in less than two weeks, by Friday, May 10.
Responders expect to have refloated and removed the Dali, the massive cargo ship that slammed into the bridge, by that time.
"There's a lot of factors that play into that— both the engineering, the salvage operation and weather—and so we're going to continue to move to do this as safely and as fast as possible," said Shannon Gilreath rear admiral from the United States Coast Guard, in a statement.
More than 180 containers have been removed from the bow of the Dali.
"We completed removing all the containers that we need to remove off the ship to make that operation as safe as possible, and we're going to continue to plan to use precision cutting to make that operation as safe as possible," Gilreath said.
"We're talking about a massive piece of steel, and on one end, the steel is leaning against a vessel that is the size of the Eiffel Tower. On the other end, it's leaning against the bottom of the riverbed," Gov. Wes Moore said.
A 35-foot-deep emergency channel that opened late last week closed Monday morning to allow crews space to safely remove the Dali.
Several shallower alternate channels will remain open during the Dali removal process.
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Source: CBS News, USA Today
