The body of a fourth construction worker has been recovered from the site of Baltimore’s horrific Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
Salvage teams on Sunday located what they “believed to be one of the missing construction vehicles” that plunged into the water in the collapse last month, WBAL reported. A body was discovered inside the car.
At the request of the family, the name of the victim was not disclosed.
“As we mourn the lives lost and continue the recovery operation, we recognize each missing individual is someone’s beloved friend or family member,” Colonel Roland Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, said in a press briefing.
“Along with all of our allied law enforcement partners, we pledge to exhaust the physical and technical aspects of their training while deploying every available resource possible.”
The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the incident in which a cargo ship slammed into the bridge, causing it to collapse on March 26, senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Six construction workers who had been repairing potholes on the bridge were killed. Two of them remain missing.
The investigation will look into the events that led up to the ship leaving the port and a portion of the inquiry will also examine whether the crew knew of any potential mechanical problems making the vessel unsafe in the harbor.
FBI agents have been collecting physical evidence and data from inside the ship relating to moments before, during and after impact.
Everything you need to know about the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s collapse in Baltimore
- The Dali, the Singapore-flagged container ship that smashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and destroyed it early Tuesday, reportedly lost propulsion and tried to warn officials that it was going to crash, according to a report.
- Six people were unaccounted for, according to authorities. Two people were pulled from the river by rescuers.
- Seven vehicles were missing after falling from the 1.6-mile-long span. Officials are using sonar technology to find the vehicles.
- Videos show power on the ship flickering off, and then on again, shortly before the crash. Watch footage of the bridge’s collapse here.
- A Baltimore resident described how the horrifying collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday caused his entire house to feel like it was falling down.
- The Dali was also involved in a collision while leaving the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016.
Follow along with The Post’s coverage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.
The probe comes as Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced Monday that the city would be taking “legal steps” to address the bridge collapse.
The city has hired law firms to “launch legal action to hold wrongdoers responsible and to mitigate the immediate and long-term harm caused to Baltimore City residents.”
“The City of Baltimore will take decisive action to hold responsible all entities accountable for the Key Bridge tragedy, including the owner, charterer, manager/operator, and the manufacturer of the M/V Dali, as well as any other potentially liable third parties,” the mayor said in a statement.
The Singapore-flagged cargo ship collided into a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The bridge snapped and crumbled into the Patapsco River with a livestream of the tragic event showing cars and trucks on the bridge just before impact.
Investigators revealed that the vessel’s lights had suddenly shut off for four minutes before coming back on.
And moments before the collision, dark smoke was seen coming from the ship’s chimney.
President Joe Biden promised he would make rebuilding the bridge a priority, citing the Port of Baltimore’s major economic impact on the region.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the collapse.
Attorneys representing two of the dead workers and one who survived are also conducting an independent investigation into the crash.
