Third body found in wreckage of Baltimore bridge as Biden surveys 'mangled mess'

"mangled mess" collapsed bridge into which the Dali container ship crashed. Photo: BRENDAN SMILOWSKI/AFP

A third body was found in the wreckage of a Baltimore bridge as Joe Biden surveyed the «maimed mess» from the air.

Divers found the body of Maynor Suazo Sandoval, a 38-year-old father of two, on Friday, more than a week after a cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

He was part of a construction crew repairing potholes on the bridge. Two men were later rescued from the Patapsco River, and three workers are still missing.

Carlos Alexis Suazo Sandoval, brother of Minor Suazo Sandoval, was glad his body was found so his family could say goodbye to him properly.

“This was goal #1,” he wrote in a WhatsApp message in Spanish, The Washington Post reported. “Thank God.”

The news comes as Joe Biden makes his first visit to Baltimore, Maryland, since a bridge collapse shut down one of the largest container ports in the United States.

The US president got a close-up view of the destruction on Marine One as it circled over the twisted steel beams and debris clogging the canal. Cranes, ships and diving crews are working to reopen the port after the federal government provided an initial $60 million in emergency funding.

In a speech delivered from a shoreline overlooking the collapsed bridge, Mr. Biden promised to move “heaven and earth” to restore it. «I'm here to say that your nation stands with you, and I mean it,» he added.

“From the air, I saw a destroyed bridge, but here on the ground, I see a close-knit community.”

Mr. Biden received a briefing from the U.S. Coast Guard and local officials and met for more than an hour with families of the victims.

Seeing the scene up close, Mr. Biden vowed to move “heaven and earth” to rebuild the bridge. Photo: AKGS/Ron Sachs/CNP/MediaPunch

Describing the victims, all of whom emigrated from Latin American countries, as “hardworking, strong and selfless,” Mr. Biden said: “To all the families and loved ones who are grieving, I come here to mourn with them.” You. We all are.”

The bodies of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Mexico, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Guatemala, were discovered in the Patapsco River the day after the collapse.

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“Unified Command announced this evening that divers were able to bring Maynor Suazo Sandoval, one of the remaining missing workers, home to his family,” Brandon M. Scott, the mayor of Baltimore, said Friday.

< p>«While I take comfort in the fact that this brings us one step closer to completing the process, my heart remains with all the families who are still eagerly awaiting their loved ones.»

U.S. Army Col. Those tasked with clearing the wreckage described the scene as a «mangled mess» and the BBC said: «It's hard to explain the steel cantilevered, bent and shattered with such force.»