As of May 2, five bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of mangled steel as a delicate, complex salvage effort continues to reopen access to the Port of Baltimore. The men were working for Brawner Builders, filling potholes on the center span of the bridge at the time of the collapse.

One member of the seven-person roadwork crew survived the collapse by somehow freeing himself from his work truck. He was rescued from the water later that morning. A road maintenance inspector also survived by running to safety in the moments before the bridge fell.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge (informally, Key Bridge or Beltway Bridge) was a steel arch continuous through truss bridge that spanned the lower Patapsco River and outer Baltimore Harbor/Port in Maryland, United States.