Who were the victims 'presumed' to be dead in Baltimore bridge collapse accident?

The US Coast Guard on Wednesday said they are giving up on the hope of rescuing the six workers missing after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed and called off the search operation after approximately 18 hours.

Officials said the workers who are now declared ‘presumably dead’ couldn’t have survived the freezing water temperatures and sheer 185-feet fall from the bridge.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore earlier said that he’s spent time with the families of victims. “The strength of these families is absolutely remarkable,” Moore stated at a press conference.

Here’s what is known about the six missing victims

1. The construction workers, employed by Baltimore-based Brawner Builders were fixing potholes at the centre span of the bridge when the crash happened, Jeffrey Pritzker, Executive Vice President of Brawner Builders said.

“This was so completely unforeseen,” Pritzker added. “We don’t know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers," Pritzker further said.

2. The men are from Latin American countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, and were living in Baltimore county’s Dundalk and Highlandtown, according to The Baltimore Banner report.

Two of the six workers were from Guatemala, the country’s Foreign Affairs confirmed on Tuesday. The ministry said they were members of a team assigned to “repairing the asphalt on the bridge at the time of the accident".

One of the missing workers from El Salvador was identified as Miguel Luna by the nonprofit organization CASA. “He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years,” CASA executive director Gustavo Torres said in a statement.

So far, State and federal officials have not officially released information about the identities of any of the six missing workers.

3. “The six men were in their 30s and 40s and had spouses and children. They [were] hard-working, humble men,” Jesús Campos, a worker with the Baltimore firm, who claims to know the victims said.

Two other workers were rescued from the water. One was not hurt; the other was hospitalized but later released.

A state of emergency was declared in Baltimore on Tuesday after the now-collapsed bridge was struck by a huge Singaporean-flagged cargo vessel named Dali.