THE cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent “routine engine maintenance” in port beforehand, the US Coast Guard said on Wednesday.
Divers had recovered the bodies of two of six workers who plunged into the water when it collapsed. The others were presumed dead, and officials said search efforts had ended. All were originally from Latin America.
Investigators began collecting evidence from the vessel, the Dali, a day after it struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The bodies of the two men were located in the morning inside a red van submerged in water near the bridge’s middle span, Colonel Roland L Butler Jr., superintendent of Maryland State Police, told a news conference.
He identified the men as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, who was from Mexico and living in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, who was from Guatemala and living in Dundalk, Maryland.
The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreathtold the news conference that authorities were informed that the ship was going to undergo maintenance but “we were not informed of any problems with the vessel.”
The vessel was reportedly carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries.