Baltimore bridge collapse: Rescuers search for bodies in frigid waters

MARYLAND Rescuers have lost hope of finding more survivors of the Baltimore bridge collapse, as efforts switched on March 27 to looking for the bodies of the missing and more answers to what caused a massive cargo ship to smash into the span.

"At this point, we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals alive," Rear-Admiral Shannon Gilreath of the US Coast Guard said at a news briefing, citing the cold water temperatures and the length of time since the overnight collapse.

He said responders were transitioning "to a different phase".

Speaking at the same briefing, Maryland secretary of state police Roland Butler said the focus would shift to a "recovery operation".

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said rescue workers from federal, state and city agencies were still searching the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of the bridge knocked down in Baltimore Harbour by a faltering cargo ship, leaving six construction workers missing and presumed dead.

Speaking to local television station WJZ-TV early on March 27, Mr Scott said the rescue workers were hoping to find the victims so their families could have "closure".

"We know that they know they will not be coming back alive," he said.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said divers were dealing with tremendously dangerous conditions.

"We're talking about frigid temperatures. We're talking about a moving tide. We're talking about darkness and mangled metal," he said in an interview with CBS News.

Rescuers pulled two other workers from the water alive on March 26, and one of them was hospitalised. The six presumed to have perished included workers from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Officials said all eight were part of a work crew repairing potholes on Francis Scott Key Bridge's road surface when the Singapore-flagged container vessel Dali, leaving Baltimore for Sri Lanka, ploughed into a support pylon of the bridge at about 1.30am (local time).

A trestled section of the 2.6km span almost immediately crumpled into the icy water, sending vehicles and workers into the river.