Baltimore Orioles hold moment of silence on opening day for bridge collapse victims

BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Orioles held an eight-second moment of silence for the six workers killed in Tuesday’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge before their Opening Day game against the Los Angeles Angels at Camden Yards on Thursday.

The bridge, located less than 10 miles from Camden Yards, collapsed seconds after the shipping vessel Dali lost power, veered off course and struck the crossing. Four bodies have yet to be recovered.

Just before the moment of silence, a 30-by-42 foot flag from Baltimore's Fort McHenry was lowered from the batter's eye. It is a replica of the flag flown over Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner

Wednesday, divers recovered two bodies from a car in the water and authorities identified them as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, a native of Mexico who lived in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, a native of Guatemala and Dundalk, Maryland resident.

President Joe Biden has resolved to rebuild the bridge, part of a key artery for truck traffic around the city and, by extension, the Northeast corridor. The bridge wreckage and the Dali are for now impeding ship traffic into Baltimore’s port, costing the city an estimated $10 million to $15 million in revenue per day.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday that more than 8,000 workers need economic relief after the bridge collapse.

“We need every single Baltimorean, and every single Marylander, to join us in this work to rebuild this bridge and rebuild this city,” Moore said Thursday at a press conference to introduce new Orioles owner David Rubenstein. “The best minds in the world are coming together with speed and safety in response to this crisis."

“This work is not going to take hours. It’s not going to take weeks. We have a very long road ahead of us.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Orioles honor Baltimore bridge collapse victims on opening day