大象传媒

Divers searching the waters of the Patapsco River in the US city of Baltimore have recovered two bodies days after the Dali cargo vessel crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge causing it to collapse.

Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Castillo Cabrera, 26 - were found underwater in a red pickup truck according to Col. Roland L. Butler Jr, the Head of the Maryland State Police.

Six people went missing when the container vessel which rammed into the major bridge leaving it partially submerged.

The disaster has shed a light on the lives of the team of maintenance workers - most of whom had been born outside of the United States in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Newsday heard more from Maryland resident Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, an immigration advocate and CEO of Global Refuge - an NGO that supports migrants refugees entering the US.

"The tragedy... highlights the disproportionate impact on our city's immigrant community who take on some of society's most demanding and dangerous jobs. They made Baltimore better than they found it... at a time when there's toxic and hateful rhetoric [against immigrants]."

"Immigrants - whether working on a construction site or in a meat processing plant - are often taking on dangerous jobs that other Americans refuse to take... filling critical gaps in our workforce. We expect even in rebuilding this bridge immigrant labour will be a critical part of that solution."

"The outreach from political leaders is essential in this moment to heal and to highlight the invaluable contribution of immigrants which is often overlooked. Baltimore has always been a welcoming community. One in 8 workers in Baltimore [is immigrant]."

(Pic: A Marine Emergency Team boat boat passes the twisted wreckage of the Francis Scott Key bridge, in Baltimore, Maryland;, USA; Credit: Reuters)

Show less