The U.S. Coast Guard on Friday stepped up search efforts for the driver of a tractor-trailer went into the water from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Virginia.
The Coast Guard joined other agencies in the effort after watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Virginia command center were notified at about 2 p.m. Thursday the truck with trailer attached went over the rail with at least one person inside roughly one mile from Chic’s Beach.
“This is a concentrated joint search effort consisting of multiple rescue crews, search aircraft and boats,” said Chief Warrant Officer Dan Butierries, Coast Guard Sector Virginia search and rescue mission coordinator. “We are committed to searching by land and sea throughout the night and into the morning,” he said.
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Multiple agencies are searching, including Coast Guard Station Little Creek, Coast Guard Cutter Sailfish, Coast Guard Cutter Seahawk, Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, Virginia Beach Police, Virginia Beach Fire Department, Virginia Beach EMS and Virginia Marine Resource Commission.
Plans are being made to recover the tractor-trailer Friday.
What we know about the incident
The single vehicle accident occurred Thursday at about 1:50 p.m. on a northbound lane on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, resulting in the truck going overboard.
The vehicle involved is a tractor-trailer, and the truck went overboard on the west side of the northbound span between Virginia Beach and the southernmost island.
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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is a four-lane, 20-mile-long vehicular toll crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay. The facility provides the only direct link between Hampton Roads, Virginia and the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Authority is investigating the accident.