Migrants from several Latin American countries are among the missing after the bridge collapse in Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland, officials have said.

Two Guatemalans, aged 26 and 35, have been missing since the accident, the Central American country’s Foreign Ministry announced late Tuesday.

The immigrant organisation Casa announced that one of its members was also missing.

He was a father of three from El Salvador who had lived in Maryland for more than 19 years. 

On Monday evening, he went to work and did not return home.

Citing the Mexican consul in Washington, Rafael Laveaga, U.S. media outlet CNN reported that Mexican citizens were also missing.

It is not known how many.

“We know our people are involved,’’ Mr Laveaga told journalists. It was a crew who was repairing parts of the, I think, potholes on the bridge, and they’re the ones who are going to build the bridge again, the Latinos.’’

According to Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld, eight construction workers were on the bridge repairing potholes at the time of the accident.

Two people were rescued.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday evening that the active search for survivors would be suspended due to the low water temperature.

A container ship rammed the four-lane, more than 2.5-kilometre-long Motorway Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday, causing it to collapse.

According to initial findings, there was a problem with the ship’s power supply before the accident.

U.S. authorities said that the crew managed to inform the authorities by distress signal that they had lost control of the ship.

This enabled officials on land to stop traffic and prevent more cars from reaching the bridge.

(dpa/NAN)