Seven men left home Monday evening for a night shift on the Francis Scott Key Bridge to fix the Interstate 695 roadway.
Six members of the crew — fathers, husbands and at least one grandfather — did not return to their families in Baltimore, Dundalk, Owings Mills and Glen Burnie when the sun rose Tuesday over the wreckage of the collapsed Key Bridge.
On Wednesday, divers found the bodies of two men, identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, inside a red pickup truck. Fuentes was from Mexico and Cabrera from Guatemala.
The Latino workers were on the bridge’s middle span when a container ship hit its support column and sent the expanse plummeting into the Patapsco River early Tuesday morning.
After a mayday from the ship, a Singapore-flagged vessel named Dali, police quickly closed off the bridge to traffic, but the construction crew from Hunt Valley-based Brawner, who were filling potholes on the roadway, couldn’t escape.
A Maryland state highway inspector and one construction worker survived, but four others who plunged into the chilly depths of the river haven’t been found as the recovery effort continued.
Three of the men were originally from Mexico, one of whom was rescued with injuries but has been released from the hospital, according to the Mexican embassy. The remaining workers were from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Authorities have yet to officially name the other four victims, but CASA, a nonprofit supporting immigrants, said that two were members: Maynor Suazo Sandoval, who emigrated from Honduras 17 years ago, and Miguel Luna, who has lived in the U.S. for 19 years. Luna’s friends and neighbors in Glen Burnie described him as a sweet and hardworking grandfather who forged friendships despite language barriers.
“His brother describes Maynor as having a true virtue for all things machinery. Maynor dreamt of starting his own small business in the Baltimore area,” reads a Wednesday news release from CASA. “He was always so full of joy, and brought so much humor to our family.”
Suazo Sandoval was a husband and father of two. The family was gearing up for his birthday celebration on April 27, CASA said.
Latino Racial Justice Circle, a faith-based organization in the Baltimore area, set up a GoFundMe Wednesday morning to raise money for the families of the six missing workers. The online fundraiser quickly surpassed its initial goal of $18,000. After bringing in close to $98,000 in donations by about 6 p.m. Wednesday, the organization shut it down, Vice President Susana Barrios said. Donations can still be made through the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
“We raised so much money so fast, and because we’re volunteer-run, we are so small, we closed it down yesterday and then we passed it to the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs,” Barrios said Thursday morning.
“We know that the 6 victims were all Latino immigrants who were supporting partners and children in the Southeast Baltimore and Dundalk communities. As they move forward with their shock and grief, the families will need support with basic needs, such as rent, groceries, and utilities,” the fundraiser page says.
Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, mentioned in an interview on Wednesday at the company’s headquarters in Hunt Valley that colleagues were deeply affected by the news. Pritzker stated that they are doing their best to support the families, but it's impossible to bring someone back once they're gone.
He mentioned that many people are not aware of how risky road construction can be for workers. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 2,200 workers lost their lives at road construction sites between 2003 and 2020, averaging 123 deaths per year.
Pritzker stated that Brawner takes measures to protect its workers from traffic and other dangers, but the collapse was unforeseen and disastrous. He expressed surprise, asking, “Who could have predicted something like that happening?”
Bobby Knutson Jr., a construction worker from Northern Virginia who had been with Brawner for about five years, mentioned that he and his crewmates sometimes worried about cars passing the bridge while they worked, or about falling from the span. However, he found the massive container ships leaving the Port of Baltimore and passing under the bridge to be mostly impressive.
“The least thing we considered was a boat striking the bridge. It's just astounding,” Knutson said.
Knutson mentioned that he was acquainted with several crew members who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, including Luna and Alejandro “Alex” Hernandez, who rose through the ranks at Brawner to become a foreman, originally from Mexico.
“When I first met him, he worked as a laborer and didn’t have a company truck,” Knutson said. “But by the time I left, he had his own crew and the company truck, which I found really impressive.”
Hernandez was very close with his brother-in-law, Julio, who Knutson believes was rescued from the collapse and taken to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. He was discharged later on Tuesday.
According to Knutson, Hernandez had a dynamic personality despite his short stature. His strong presence made him seem much taller, Knutson stated.
“He was the kindest person, but you didn’t want to get on his bad side because he didn’t tolerate any nonsense,” Knutson mentioned.
