Search and rescue crews recovered the body of a driver who drove off the side of the Delaware Memorial Bridge and into the Delaware River early Friday morning. 

The Delaware River and Bay Authority said emergency crews recovered the tractor-trailer cab and the body of the driver at around 11:10 a.m. on Saturday. Search efforts were delayed until 9 a.m. due to water and tide conditions.

According to the DRBA, rescue crews used a Hurst tool to get the body from the tractor-trailer cab. The driver has yet to be identified, and the exact cause of the crash has not yet been revealed.

Search and recovery efforts for the submerged truck and anyone inside were suspended for the day on Friday afternoon because of tide and water conditions in the area of the scene, DRBA said in an update about the investigation.

The DRBA said the tractor-trailer cab was found earlier Friday, and the driver was presumed dead. 

"The cab has been located in about 20 feet of water," DRBA spokesperson James Salmon said Friday.

During their search Friday afternoon, the DRBA said that its engineers were working with R.E. Pierson to use a barge and a crane on the scene to help recover the cab and the person or people inside.  

The crash impacted traffic on the southbound side of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The left lane was closed due to the investigation, and the right lane was already closed due to scheduled construction, the Delaware Memorial Bridge account on X said. DRBA was later able to open the right lane, which alleviated traffic. Traffic has since reopened for all lanes of the Delaware-bound span of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

While the cab was traveling on the downslope of the bridge's southbound side, it crossed three lanes of traffic and struck a concrete barrier, breaking through and plunging into the water below, the DRBA said.

DRBA said that as a safety measure, there is a maintenance attenuator vehicle on the concrete pad near the collapsed wall.

One major factor that helped responders act quickly: the crash was caught live on a traffic camera, which alerted crews in real time.

"Anybody going over like that, there should be a retention wall for safety purposes," Troy Gross Sr. from Pennsville said. "So no truck can ever do that, no matter what the speed."

No other vehicles were hit or went into the water in this incident.

"I think it might have been a medical problem or [the driver] fell asleep," Wendell Curry from Pennsville said. "Because at that time of the morning, I don't think there's that much traffic."