:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/6R7J5C26MJAA7C5N77ZN7WP2FY.jpg)
Divers on Wednesday recovered the bodies of two of the six Latino workers who died after a freighter collided with a pillar on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in BaltimoreU.S.
All victims worked for the construction company Brawner Builders and at the time of the accident they were doing maintenance on the bridge road.
TO LOOK: What is the impact on the economy of closing the Baltimore Bridge and how long will it take to rebuild?
In the early hours of this Tuesday, the freighter From there collided with one of the pillars of the largest bridge in the world Baltimore and caused its collapse.
At least eight people fell into the water and hours later two were rescued alive.
Two minutes before the accident, one of the ship’s pilots issued a distress signal and radioed that they were adriftso authorities closed the bridge lane in both directions, but They did not have time to remove the workers working on the structure.
A co-worker of the victims told the American press that Workers were resting and sitting in their trucks parked on the bridge at the time of the accident.
The men who were rescued on Wednesday were identified as Alejandro Hernández Fuentes, a 35-year-old Mexican, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, a 26-year-old Guatemalan, Colonel Roland L. Butler of the State Police reported at a press conference. Maryland.
According to Butler, the bodies were recovered by a team of divers in the Patapsco River for a depth of 7.6 meters. They were located in the central part of the bridge.
The two workers They were inside a red truck which fell into the river when the bridge collapsed.
The bodies of Salvadoran Miguel Luna, Honduran Maynor Suazo, Guatemalan José López and another worker who has not yet been identified.
Used rescue teams sonars to look for clues to the vehicles that fell into the cold water after the bridge collapsed. According to FBI divers, visibility in the water is zerobut even so, on Wednesday afternoon they managed to recover two of the bodies.
According to Univision, as it is not safe for divers dive into the tangle of metal beams and wreckage that are in the river, police announced that they will return to search for the remaining bodies once the debris has been removed.
Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval (Honduras)
Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova38 years, He was the youngest of eight brothers originally from Azacualpaa mountainous area in a rural area of the Northeast Hondurasnear the border with Guatemala, reported the AP agency.
One of his brothers, Martín Suazo Sandoval, told the press that 18 years ago, Maynor left alone for the United States in search of opportunities. He had worked as an industrial technician in Honduras, repairing machines at assembly plants, but the pay was too low to advance, he said.
“He always dreamed of having his own business.”he told the AP.
Maynor entered the United States without documents and established Maryland. At first he did whatever work he could find, including construction and clearing brush. Eventually, he started a package delivery business in the Baltimore and Washington area, Martín Suazo Sandoval said.
“He was the fundamental pillar, the bastion so that other family members could also travel there and then get visas and everything else,” Martín Suazo Sandoval told the AP. “He really was the driving force for most of the family to travel.”
Maynor has a wife and two children, ages 17 and 5..
He started working at the company Brawner Builders during the coronavirus pandemic.
Miguel Luna (El Salvador)
The Salvadoran Miguel Luamarried and father of three children, lived in Maryland for 19 years.
CASA, a non-profit organization that provides services to immigrants and working-class families, said in a statement that Moon He was a member of the said organization.
“Unfortunately, we discovered that one of the construction workers involved was a former member of our CASA family, adding an even deeper layer of sadness to this already serious situation,” CASA CEO Gustavo said in the statement.
“Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, left at 6:30 pm on Monday afternoon to go to work and did not return home,” the statement noted.
“The entire region of Baltimore and the CASA family are mourning this tragedy. “Our hearts ache for the families of the victims and everyone affected by this terrible accident,” he added.
José Mynor López (Guatemala)
José Mynor López He was 39 years old and was born in the municipality of CamotanDepartment of Chiquimulain Guatemala. He lived in the United States for 19 years.
“I hope they find my son alive,” he told Univision Nora Hilda de LópezO mother by José López.
López’s mother said she was planning a trip to Maryland to be able to reunite with her son and his two grandchildrenwho are now orphans.
Dorlian Castillo Cabrera (Guatemala)
Dorlian Castillo Cabrera, 26 years old, worked for Brawner Builders for three years. He is originally from San Luis, department of Peten.
Alejandro Fernández Fuentes (Mexico)
The Mexican Alejandro Hernández Fuentes35 years old, it was natural Vera Cruz.
According to a report from NBC News, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration considers construction “a high-risk industry” in which workers are exposed to serious dangerssuch as falling from roofs, being struck by heavy construction equipment, and being injured or killed by unguarded machinery.
The report highlights that Latinos are more exposed to these dangers given that They represent approximately one-third of construction workers from the country.
Based on the most recent data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)NBC News indicated that the construction and extraction industries recorded the second highest number of deaths in 2021, with 1,056 deaths, followed by transportation and material handling workers.
According to the BLS, At least 423 of these workers died due to falls, slips or trips.
The majority of these deaths, at least 286, occurred among Hispanic workers.
The death rate for construction and extraction workers increased from 12.3 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers in 2021 to 13.0 a year later.
According to the BLS, a total of 316 foreign-born Hispanic construction workers died from work-related injuries in 2021.
The tragedy of Baltimore has hit Latino and immigrant communities across the country hard, he told NBC News Bruna Sollod, senior policy director at United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the United States.
Sollod indicated that Migrant workers “have been building and repairing bridges that ensure we can move freely for the cities we call home and stay connected as neighbors and families.”
“Each of these men was part of the fabric that helps make Baltimore a prosperous, vibrant and safer community,” Sollod said. He added that they are “a reminder of the often invisible care that immigrants provide to our cities and communities every day.”
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/T2VMBC4ZKFCPBBHDMLGWY2PP7A.jpg)
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/EPAS3QJM7FFMXEWZCMK3VGVKPQ.jpg)
