Inside the grim search for bridge collapse victims as recovery teams face ... trends now

Divers tasked with searching for victims of the horror Baltimore bridge collapse face hours in freezing, murky waters filled with dangerous chunks of mangled metal as they continue their heroic efforts. 

The treacherous conditions were cited by Maryland officials as they called off the search late Tuesday evening, admitting their operation has now become a rescue mission to find bodies. 

Six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse remain missing, and Coast Guard officials say they are presumed dead. 

At a press conference Tuesday winding down the search, Col. Roland Butler of the Marland Police said dive teams face 'changing currents, low temperatures, very poor visibility, and so much metal and unknown objects in the water.' 

Late into the first day of the search, eerie footage emerged showing rescue teams combing the Patapsco River with flashlights. 

Crews searched along the twisted remnants of the 1.6-mile Key Bridge, which could be seen embedded into the bow of the vessel. 

Dive teams face significant struggle to move around the wreckage, with the footage showing them aiming flashlights around the murky waters. 

Hopes of finding the workers alive dwindled into the evening, and experts said the frigid 46F degree waters would make survival only possible for up to three hours. 

Jeffrey Pritzker, the executive vice president of the workers' company Brawner Builders, said the conditions were reason enough to presume they perished in the tragedy. 

'We’re presuming that they are not alive because they were thrown into the bay in an area that’s 50 feet deep, with 46-degree temperature, probably buried under tons of steel,' Pritzker told the Baltimore Banner. 

'The company is in mourning and it’s a terrible, unanticipated tragedy,' he added.  

At the press conference, Butler said he was bringing his teams inside for the night as the dangerous mission was also imperiling the lives of crewmembers. 

'The last thing we want to do is put divers in the water with changing currents, low temperatures, very poor visibility, and so much metal and unknown objects in the water,' he said.

'All it takes is one object to strike an individual, and all of a sudden, we have a first responder recover another first responder,' he said, noting that they would be in a 'better position' to find bodies by waiting until Wednesday morning.