Victims of bridge collapse in Baltimore are Hispanic workers

Six of the victims who died on Tuesday in the Baltimore bridge collapse are Hispanic workers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

After a day of searching they have not been able to find them, so the United States Coast Guard presumes that they are dead.

"Based on the length of time we've been on this search, the extensive search efforts we've put into it, the temperature of the water, at this time we don't believe we're going to find any of these individuals still alive," Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said.

There were eight people workingon the bridge at the time it was hit by a ship. They were workers who worked for the Brawner Builders company filling potholes in the central section of the walkway.

Two of them were rescued from the water: one was unharmed and the other was treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and has since been discharged.

One of the Salvadorans was identified as Miguel Luna, 49 years old and a member of the non-profit organization CASA.

"He is a husband, father of three children, and has called Maryland home for more than 19 years," said CASA Executive Director Gustavo Torres.

The Guatemalan authorities also confirmed that two of the men were from that country, they were between 30 and 40 years old and both were married and fathers of a family.

The Mexican Embassy in Washington did the same, which revealed that there are Mexicans among the victims.

For its part, the Honduran Foreign Ministry revealed that the other missing person is Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, from that Central American nation.

Search and rescue operations were suspended on Tuesday at 7:30 pm and restarted on Wednesday morning.

So far, one truck has been recovered from the scene, but another vehicle is still hanging on metal debris, according to the agency.AP.

The accident occurred at 1:35 am Tuesday on the bridge over the Patapsco River.

The metal structure 2.5 km long and 30 meters high was hit by the "Dali", a Maersk shipping company cargo ship operated by Synergy Marine Group, 300 meters long and destined for Colombo, Sri Lanka. .

Richard Worley, spokesman for the Baltimore Police, stressed that "there is no indication" that the boat collided with the bridge deliberately and ruled out that it was a terrorist action.

The company that owns the ship reported that all crew members were safe and unharmed.

The governor of the state of Maryland, Wes Moore, declared a state of emergency.

The Francis Scott Key was a steel truss bridge opened in March 1977 and is used by around 11.5 million vehicles a year.