Middleton explained that as foreign nationals, the crew may face legal complications if they try to return to land, as U.S. Customs and Border Patrol would have to grant them special permission. Middleton said the crew is currently communicating with crew members via WhatsApp. He said he has offered to help them with supplies and assured them of his ministry’s prayer.
“Throughout the day yesterday I would just periodically check in, make sure everybody was still doing okay, remind them that we were available for them and that we were praying for them and to not hesitate to reach out to me if they needed anything,” he explained.
Middleton said that when the Dali is eventually allowed to dock, Apostleship of Sea will be ready with food and basic necessities for the crew.
As part of the archdiocese’s ministry to seafarers, Middleton explained that he and other ministry members focus their efforts on the corporal works of mercy: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the poor.
Middleton said he wants to ensure “we’re reminding seafarers of their God-given human dignity.”
According to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, crew members were able to send a distress signal after losing power so that police officers were able to close the bridge in time to prevent further casualties.
However, eight construction workers, immigrants from Latin America, were unable to escape and were on the impacted portion of the bridge. They had been working to fill potholes on the bridge when the Dali collided with it, sending the men into the icy river below.
Two were rescued and survived but after searching much of Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard ended its active rescue efforts and the six remaining victims are now presumed dead, according to local news station WBAL-TV.
Watch “EWTN News Nightly’”s coverage of the Key Bridge collapse.
One missing victim has been identified by the migrant aid group CASA as Miguel Luna, an El Salvadoran immigrant, husband, and father of three. According to CASA, Luna had been a resident of Maryland for the last 19 years.
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Another missing victim has been identified as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, a Honduran national, husband, and father of two who had been in the U.S. for 18 years, according to CNN.
The governments of Mexico and Guatemala have also confirmed some of their nationals were victims of the bridge’s collapse, per CNN.
Father Walker told CNA that the families of the missing, among them some who have small children, are in “immediate need.”
The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Esperanza Center is working to coordinate aid for the victims’ families in the wake of their loss, he said.
Besides considering financial contributions to help the victims’ families, Walker also asked for the faithful across the country to pray.
“While this is an earthly thing and it’s physical, it’s also spiritual,” he said. “Some of them are having a difficult time and they are outwardly expressing their grief, tears, and so on, and others are just quiet, so I don’t know if the quietness is acceptance or just numbness.”
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