“These are images that no one wants to have in their head”: rescuers trying to find the six people missing sincecollapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, are now looking for corpses. A water rescue expert explains to us why this phase of their mission is particularly trying.
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For more than a dozen hours, the US Coast Guard and Baltimore firefighters searched, in vain, the surface and banks of the Patapsco River in the hope of finding one of the six missing people.
On Wednesday, more than 24 hours after the collapse of the major Baltimore bridge, the authorities announced that they were moving to a new phase of the operation: the search for bodies, a particularly trying stage for the rescue team.
“Finding a body in the water is significant. These are images that no one wants to have in their head. We have to be mentally strong, not give up and not forget that we are doing this for the victims’ families. They will want to recover the body of their loved one,” explains the co-owner of the company Sauvetage nautique SRS, Charles Arseneault.
Complicated searches
A few hours ago, divers began inspecting the depths of the Patapsco River. The temperature, current, depth of the water and the presence of debris risk making their work difficult, says Mr. Arseneault.
“It is possible that the bodies were moved great distances, if they were not trapped under the debris. The search could take a long time. The challenge as a rescuer is to search efficiently, while respecting your limits and those of your team,” he explains.
In addition to the six workers from Latin America who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, Baltimore Fire Department crews said vehicles are underwater at the site of the collapse. accident.
Divers will have to break the windows of these vehicles using specialized tools in order to confirm if people are still there, “which is very likely,” indicates Charles Arseneault.
Psychological help, essential
Even for well-trained specialists, missions like the one currently taking place in the Patapsco River are demanding, especially psychologically.
Regardless of the outcome of the mission, once the work is finished, rescuers must be able to talk about what they experienced, insists Charles Arseneault.
“Recovering corpses is part of our work, but it’s super important to create spaces to be able to discuss, if we don’t want these events to stick in our minds negatively,” he concludes.
