Search and rescue shifts to recovery with Key Bridge collapse

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The recovery efforts are getting back underway now in Baltimore.

The coast guard suspended the search and rescue efforts around the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last night with six people still unaccounted for.  

The search and rescue effort turned into a recovery effort as the six missing people are presumed dead.

Surface ships remained in the water throughout the night, but divers were called back as it started to get dark out.  

Yesterday two people were pulled from the river after the bridge collapse, one of them was okay and the other taken to the hospital and later released.

The port of Baltimore is now closed after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge until the debris can be recovered and then sights will have to be set on rebuilding the bridge.

“It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the congress to support my effort,” said President Joe Biden.  

“I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The NTSB said the ship, called “Dali,” is nearly  1,000 feet long and weighs 95,000 tons.

Meanwhile, religious leaders from across Baltimore were joined by the mayor and other city officials last night for a vigil, praying for the victims and their families.  

The group also sang songs and prayers for the first responders and local leaders now dealing with this crisis.