Driver presumed dead after semi truck cab plunges off Delaware Memorial Bridge

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

The driver of a semi truck cab that crashed through a concrete wall and plunged off the Delaware Memorial Bridge on Friday morning is presumed to be dead, officials said.

The identity of the person is not yet known.

Officials say the cab, without a trailer, was traveling southbound on I-295 into Delaware around 3:40 a.m. when it crossed three lanes of traffic, went onto the concrete pad near the Delaware anchorage and crashed through a concrete wall.

The truck then fell into the Delaware River below.

Search crews located the cab in about 20 feet of water several hours later.

TJ Murray, who has worked at the Delaware River and Bay Authority for over three decades, said he has never heard of anything like this happening before.

“From what I understand from communications today, no one remembers any kind of vehicle going over the side of the bridge,” Murray said.

It’s not yet known if anyone else was inside the truck when it crashed.

No other vehicles were involved in the incident.

The Delaware River and Bay Authority says that a third-party contractor doing work on the bridge is lending a barge and crane to help get the tractor-trailer cab out of the water.

Other responding agencies, including the Coast Guard, the Delaware special operations dive team, and local fire companies, are also on the scene.

DRBA maintenance and marine units are working to secure the impact area on the bridge and underneath to prevent large objects and other unsafe debris from falling into the river where the recovery efforts are taking place, officials said.

Recovery efforts were suspended for the day around 4:30 p.m. They will begin again at 6 a.m. Saturday.

All lanes of the Delaware-bound span of the Delaware Memorial Bridge are now open to traffic. As a safety measure, the DRBA said a maintenance attenuator vehicle has been positioned on the concrete pad near the collapsed concrete wall.

The accident remains under investigation.