Officials say a fourth corpse was recovered from the scene of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on Monday.
The Key Bridge Response Unified Command reported the discovery in a statement. The body was recovered from the water on Sunday and positively identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Monday.
The discovery comes several weeks after the Key Bridge collapsed on March 26. The container ship Dali collided with one of the Key Bridge’s support piers as it left the Port of Baltimore, causing the majority of the bridge to collapse into the Patapsco River.
In a Monday press release, the Unified Command stated that the body was discovered in “what [salvage teams] believed to be one of the missing construction vehicles.”
“The Maryland State Police, the FBI, and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police responded and located a deceased victim trapped inside the vehicle.”
According to officials, the victim’s family has requested that the decedent’s identify not be made public. State officials met with the bereaved relatives on Monday. The discovery represents the fourth body located at the area; two other victims are still missing and believed dead.
“As we mourn the lives lost and continue the recovery operation, we recognize that each missing individual is someone’s beloved friend or family member,” stated Col. Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police.
“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 announcement came on the same day that Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott revealed preparations for the city to file legal action against anyone involved in the bridge collapse.
“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,” according to a statement released by the city.
During the announcement, Scott addressed the disaster’s impact on the city, describing it as a “unthinkable tragedy.”
“We are continuing to do everything in our power to support everyone impacted here and will continue to recognize the human impact this event has had,” the mayor’s office stated in a statement.
“Part of that work needs to be seeking recourse from those who may potentially be responsible, and with the ship’s owner filing a petition to limit its liability mere days after the incident, we need to act equally as quickly to protect the City’s interests.”