Baltimore Key Bridge collapse latest news: Massive crane that can lift 1,000 tons joins clean-up operation

Enormous cranes have started to arrive in Baltimore to help clear the wreckage after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge — an essential step before recovery efforts to find the missing construction workers continue, officials say.

A massive cleanup operation is now underway to clear the wreckage of the bridge from the river, with huge crane ships, and thousands of relief workers headed for Baltimore.

One of the cranes, the Chesapeake 1000, is capable of lifting 1,000 tonnes — but the bridge is estimated to weigh around three or four times that, so it will need to be cut into sections, Maryland governor Wes Moore said.

Mr Moore surveyed the scene and saw shipping containers ripped apart “like papier-mache.”

To understand the scale the teams are working with, the governor said that the freight was roughly the size of the Eiffel Tower.

Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden said on Friday he will go to Baltimore next week.

He also announced he has approved $60m in initial aid to rebuild the bridge.

Four bodies are still missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday morning.

Divers found the two victims trapped in a red pickup truck a little before 10 am on Wednesday in about 25 feet of water around the bridge’s middle span.

They were identified as construction workers Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Maryland.

Meanwhile, four other missing construction workers remain unaccounted for.

On Tuesday, officials said two people had been rescued alive from the water. One was uninjured while the other was in a serious condition.

Former president Donald Trump, who has continued to post attacks against Joe Biden on social media, including a