BALTIMORE — WMAR-2 News is at Mt. Olive Baptist Church of Turner Station, which is right by the entrance to the Key Bridge on the Dundalk side.
All day, WMAR has been talking to people who went to bed last night with a view of the bridge literally in their backyard. And when they woke up in the middle of the night, that view was forever changed.
And if it wasn't the loud boom that got them out of their beds at 1:30 this morning, it was the shaking.
Many people's first thought was - it was an earthquake.
"My neighbor called my husband, woke him up, and said, ' the Key Bridge is gone.' My husband said, 'what do you mean it's gone?' That's when we immediately got up. Of course you know, checked Facebook, and then we got dressed and walked down and saw everything," said Michelle Gray, who lives neayby.
"It was like the loudest boom imaginable," one trucker said. "When you hear a noise out of the ordinary, your first instinct is to wake up and figure out what it is. I found out what it was very quick, when I didn't see a bridge anymore."
Once people in this community recovered from the initial shock, their attention turned towards the victims and their families.
Officials are saying six people are unaccounted for right now, all construction workers.
A coworker from Brawners Builders tells us they all came to the U.S. from Central America searching for a better life. They've been working to send money back to their families in their home coutries.
Three of the missing people are related. All of them have kids.
"It's just really bad because they aren't family, but they are my coworkers. Just last month, I was working on the same bridge but I was able to change from night shift to day shift," said Jesus Campos.
A prayer service was held for the families that were impacted.
