Six construction workers are still missing after a large portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday morning. Governor Wes Moore (D-Md.) provided an update Tuesday, telling reporters that construction workers on the bridge were able to stop traffic just prior to the bridge’s collapse after a container ship crashed into it.
“The ship issued a mayday loss of power,” Moore said during a Tuesday press conference, according to The New York Post. “The workers on the bridge halted traffic right before impact. They saved lives in a very, very heroic way.”
According to the Associated Press, six construction workers are still missing from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. However, USA Today reported that the U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday evening that the search-and-rescue operation for the six construction workers had been called off.
“Based on the length of time that we’ve gone on this search, the extensive search efforts that we’e put into it, the water temperature, at this point we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon N. Gilreath told reporters. “So this evening at about 7:30 we are going to suspend the active search-and-rescue efforts.”
READ MORE: Videos: Bridge collapses in major cargo ship crash; search and rescue underway
According to Today.com, Moore cited “early indications” that showed authorities were able to warn construction workers that the “Dali” container ship was going to crash into one of the bridge’s support pillars, allowing officials to stop traffic from attempting to cross the bridge as the ship crashed into it.
“These first responders who moved to both alert people who were there on the bridge, and then also be able to stop the traffic flow — this was true heroism,” Moore stated.
The Democratic governor said that the individuals who heroically stopped traffic from crossing the bridge reflected the saying, “We are Maryland tough, and we are Baltimore strong.”
The Maryland governor added, “The fact that they were able to get cars off of the bridge and move cars off of the bridge — they saved countless lives that night. And so we’re incredibly thankful for the work that they did.”
Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told reporters Tuesday that the construction workers on the Francis Scott Key Bridge were “basically repairing potholes” at the time of the bridge collapse and were not conducting any work related to the overall structure of the Baltimore bridge.
