Yahoo Finance Uber Driver Was Ready to Cross Baltimore Bridge When She Was Stopped by Police and Told It 'Was Gone'
Gayle Fairman's route would have taken her and a passenger over the Baltimore Bridge on Tuesday morning — but a delay helped keep them safe
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
The Francis Scott Key Bridge following its collapse on March 26, 2024An Uber driver's early morning route on Tuesday morning would have taken her over Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. However, a delay helped keep the driver out of harm's way.
Gayle Fairman told NBC affiliate WBAL that she received a call to pick up a passenger around 1:16 a.m. on Tuesday morning, just minutes before the bridge collapsed at approximately 1:30 a.m. The passenger's intended destination would have involved the Uber vehicle crossing over the Key Bridge.
According to Fairman, the passenger was a few minutes late, which meant that by the time they arrived at the bridge, they were stopped by police and told that "the bridge was gone."
Related: Baltimore Bridge Collapse Survivor Described Watching Ship Get Closer, Says Maryland Gov.
At a press conference Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said that the cargo ship involved in the Key bridge collapse sent a “mayday” call before the collision that occurred around 1:30 a.m. That advance warning allowed authorities to “stop the flow of traffic so that more cars were not on the bridge.”
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“Many of the vehicles were stopped before they got on the bridge, which saved lives,” Moore told reporters.
PEOPLE reached out to Fairman for additional comment Thursday.
Related: Who Are the Victims of the Baltimore Bridge Collapse? What We Know So Far
Six construction workers were missing following the collapse and presumed dead. Four have been publicly identified.
The victims include Miguel Luna, a father of three from El Salvador who was a Maryland resident for about 20 years, according to non-profit organization CASA, and Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, a father of two from Honduras, per CNN.
Additionally, two bodies were found from a pickup truck submerged in water. Authorities identified them on Wednesday as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk.
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