Body of 3rd worker recovered from Baltimore bridge collapse as Biden visits site

Authorities announced Friday evening that salvage diver has recovered the body of a third worker killed in the wake of last week's bridge collapse in Baltimore.

The body of Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38, was found hours before U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed on March 26 after it was hit by huge cargo ship.

Authorities have said that eight workers — immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — were filling potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse. Two were immediately rescued and survived.

Divers have since recovered the bodies of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, originally from Mexico; Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of nearby Dundalk, originally from Guatemala; and now Suazo-Sandoval, originally from Honduras.

Three other bodies remain trapped beneath the underwater debris in the 15-metre-deep waters. They are Jose Lopez from Guatemala; Miguel Luna from El Salvador; and another whose name has not been released.

"I'm here to say your nation has your back and I mean it," Biden said from the shoreline overlooking the collapsed bridge in Dundalk, just outside Baltimore. "Your nation has your back."

Biden also met for more than an hour with the families of those killed.

"The damage is devastating, and our hearts are still breaking," he said.

Officials have established a temporary, alternate channel for vessels involved in clearing debris. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes to open a limited-access channel for barge container ships and some vessels moving cars and farm equipment by the end of this month, and to restore normal capacity to Baltimore's port by May 31, the White House says.

More than 50 salvage divers and 12 cranes are on site to help cut out sections of the bridge and remove them from the key waterway. Officials told Biden they had all the resources they need to meet the targets for opening the channel into the Baltimore port.

"From the air, I saw the bridge that has been ripped apart," Biden said on Friday after circling the site aboard a helicopter. "But here on the ground, I see a community that's pulled together."

The White House is asking lawmakers to authorize the federal government to cover 100 per cent of the collapsed bridge cleanup and reconstruction costs, rather than seeking funding through a separate, emergency supplemental funding request.