Baltimore bridge collapse: Third body recovered from water as Biden meets with victims’ families
Unified Command confirmed dive teams found the body of 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval
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The body of a third victim has been recovered by divers from the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, officials said Friday.
Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38, was the third man to be retrieved from the water after he plunged to his death with five other construction workers.
The bridge collapsed at 1.30am on 26 March after a cargo ship collided with a supporting pier. Six men, all of whom were Latino immigrant workers, were on the bridge at the time and are presumed dead, authorities have said.
Suazo-Sandoval, a native of Honduras, was married with a son, 18, and five-year-old daughter. He also leaves behind his siblings, who live in both Honduras and Maryland.
Carlos Alexis Suazo-Sandoval, Maynor’s brother, told The Washington Post that he was relieved the body had been found.
The bodies of two other victims were covered in the immediate aftermath of the collapse from a vehicle that had fallen into the Patapsco River. Dorian Castillo Cabrera, a 25-year-old from Guatemala, and Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, from Mexico.
Three more workers are still missing in the river.
“The collapse of the Key Bridge is undoubtedly one of the most challenging tragedies we have faced as a law enforcement agency. Along with our local, state and federal public safety partners, we will not give up,” Colonel Roland L Butler, Jr, Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, said.
“There are families still waiting to hear if we have found their loved one. I can promise you, we are fully committed to finding closure for each of these families.”
President Joe Biden travelled to Baltimore on Friday to meet with the victims’ families and take an aerial tour of the wreckage on Marine One. The US Army Corps of Engineers announced that a new channel will be completed by the end of April and allow one of the country’s busiest ports to begin to reopen.
There are currently two temporary channels open but they are not deep enough for large container ships to pass through.The container ship involved in the crash, the Dali, remains stranded at the port.
This comes as new video footage has been released showing dive teams entering the water around the wreckage – revealing the challenging conditions authorities are working in.
Dali crew worried ‘what world thinks’ of them after tragic collision with bridge
The crew members stranded for a week on board a cargo vessel that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore were worried what the world thought of them, an official said.
The Singapore-flagged ship Dali, en route to the south Asian country, has been stuck with 4,000 containers and its mostly Indian crew since last Tuesday after the vessel lost power and collided with a support column of the bridge, leading to its collapse.
The 20 Indian and one Sri Lankan sailors were in good health, including a member who suffered minor injuries, according to officials.
The “rattled” sailors had adequate food on board but were keeping quiet about their situation amid an ongoing investigation, said Joshua Messick, the executive director of the non-profit Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center.
“They’re not saying much at all to anyone who has been in touch with them,” Mr Messick told the BBC.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar has the full story...
Baltimore ship crew worried ‘what world thinks’ days after Key Bridge collapse
Singapore-flagged ship Dali stuck under bridge with mostly Indian crew since last Tuesday
US Army releases photos of responding authorities cutting parts of the bridge
Third recovered bridge victim Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval was ‘generous’ and ‘joyful’ man brothers say
Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval’s body wss recovered on Friday. He is the third of the Baltimore bridge workers to be found after a cargo ship accient toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge where he and five others were filling potholes.
A native of Honduras, he leaves behind two children — an 18-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter — as well as his wife and siblings, who live in Maryland and Honduras.
He left Honduras at age 18 for the US and never returned due to his immigration status, according to USA Today. Maynor and his wife raised their children in Maryland, and he contributed to his community by working with the nonprofit CASA. In addition to his local volunteer work, Maynor also donated money to youth soccer leagues in his hometown of Azacualpa.
His brother, Martin Suazo, described Maynor as a “generous man” and an entrepreneur who traveled to the US in “search of a better life,” NPR reports.
Carlos Suazo Sandoval, another brother, described Maynor as a “joyful person who had a vision,” according to CNN en Español.
Maynor’s family is planning to repatriate his body to Honduras for burial.
Baltimore bridge collapse dive team recovers body of third construction worker
A dive team has recovered a third body from the water following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.
The worker was identified as 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, according to a statement on Friday from Unified Command, who is handling the recovery operation.
The bridge collapsed at 1.30am on 26 March after a cargo ship collided with a supporting pier. Six men, all of whom were Latino immigrant workers, were on the bridge at the time and are presumed dead, authorities have said.
Suazo-Sandoval, a native of Honduras, was married with a son, 18, and five-year-old daughter. He also leaves behind his siblings, who live in both Honduras and Maryland.
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Cruise passengers react to being rerouted after Baltimore’s bridge collapse
Carnival Legend cruise passengers have shared their reactions to the trip being rerouted, after the collapse of the Francis Key Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland.
Following a trip to the Bahamas, the cruise was set to end on 31 March, with the ship initially docking in Baltimore, Maryland. However, after the Key Bridge collapsed on 26 March, Carnival Legend’s ship was rerouted, before being docked in Norfolk, Virginia, on 31 March.
As noted on Carnival Legend’s official website, passengers were then provided with a complimentary bus service back to Baltimore. The cruise’s next seven day trip – set to begin on 31 March – will also leave from and return to Norfolk. The following trips will abide by this strategy, instead of being operated in Baltimore, and passengers have been made aware of the change.
“We appreciate the pledge made by President Biden today to dedicate all available resources to reopen Baltimore Harbor to marine traffic as soon as possible,” the president of Carnival Cruise Line, Christine Duffy, said in a statement. “As those plans are finalised, we will update our future cruise guests on when we will return home to Baltimore, but in the meantime, we appreciate the quick response and support from officials in Norfolk.”
Amber Raiken has the full story...
Cruise passengers react to ship being rerouted after Baltimore’s bridge collapse
The cruise ship docked in Virgina instead of Baltimore on 31 March
ICYMI: How did the collision happen?
At around 1.30am ET local time, the Singapore-flagged vessel Dali struck a column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, leading multiple parts of the 1.6-mile-long bridge to tumble into the water.
Just moments before the collision, the ship’s crew issued a mayday call. Maryland Gov Wes Moore added that the call “undoubtedly saved lives,” giving time for authorities to stop cars from continuing on the bridge.
The crew warned the Maryland Department of Transportation that a collision with the bridge “was possible,” the report said. “The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.”
It’s still unclear what caused the accident. But the ship was just 30 minutes into its 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.
Marcel Muise, the chief investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said data from the shipping container’s voyage data recorder, sometimes referred to as a “black box”, was still being analysed.
Mr Muise said that around 1.27am on Tuesday, one of the two pilots of the Dali had made radio contact regarding a “blackout” and ordered for the port anchor to be dropped as well as issuing additional steering commands.
Several seconds later the pilot issued another radio call over the radio reporting that the Dali had “lost all power and was approaching the bridge,” Mr Muise said.
Transportation authorities say the water under the bridge is around 50 feet deep.
There was no indication that the crash was intentional, officials said.
Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press that it appeared there were “some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge”, creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders had to operate cautiously.
Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB, said that over 750 tonnes of hazardous materials had been onboard the Dali container ship when the crash occurred.
An NTSB hazmat investigator was able to identify 56 containers of hazardous materials, a total of 764 tonnes of hazardous materials, Ms Homendy told a press conference on 27 March. The materials were “mostly corrosives, flammables, and some miscellaneous hazardous materials”, she added.
Some of the hazmat containers were breached, though state authorities have been made aware.
Non-profit org helping migrants sends open letter to Biden administration demanding temporary work visas
CASA, a non-profit organisation that two of the victims belonged to, held a virtual press conference on Monday asking President Joe Biden’s administration to provide temporary work visas to migrants. The group also called for temporary protected status and humanitarian parole.
As part of the news conference, the advocates revealed a letter sent to the administration asking that construction workers receive the protective policies. Latino workers are eight percent of the construction workforce and suffer over 26 percent of the deaths, the letter stated.
“As construction companies and business leaders, we know that construction cannot function without immigrant workers. We also know that it is a physical, demanding, and sometimes dangerous work,” the letter reads.
“The deaths of the pothole crew stranded on the bridge illustrates that, despite many safeguards, essential construction workers are vulnerable to sudden accidents and deaths”. The letter was signed by the non-profit, leaders in the construction industry and other advocates.
Remembering the victims: Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval
Another of the workers missing and presumed dead since the bridge collapse in Baltimore has been named as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, according to Martin Suazo, his brother.
Martin, who lives in Honduras, told CNN that his family over in Baltimore called him to tell him that his brother was missing after the container ship crashed into the bridge.
He is originally from Azacualpa in Honduras and had been living in the United States for more than 18 years. He was married and had an 18-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter.
His brother told the outlet that Sandoval was an entrepreneur who had started his own maintenance company, venturing to the US “in search of a better life,” Martin told the outlet.
In an interview with Honduran newspaper La Prensa, Martin said in Spanish, “What we’re living is inexplicable. We wish it wasn’t real. We’re dismayed, especially the agony of not knowing when they’re going to find the body.”
“My brother was a generous man,” the brother told NPR.
He gave a lot back to his community in Honduras, Martin said. While working in the US, Sandoval sent money back to Honduras — enough to open up a hotel which provided jobs for his town, including his family. On top of this, Martin told the outlet that his brother helped those with disabilities, paid for neighbours’ medicine and doctor’s visits, and he even sponsored a youth soccer league.
One of eight siblings, the construction worker was described by another one of his brothers, Carlos Suazo Sandoval, as a “joyful person who had a vision.”
“We still have faith until this moment, God grant the miracle, it would be beautiful,” Carlos told CNN en Español on Wednesday. “We still have hope, I know that time is our worst enemy.”
The Suazo family are now focusing on having Sandoval’s body found, and if they do, they plan to repatriate the body to Honduras, Carlos said.
The Honduran Embassy told Martin Suazo that it would work with him to bring his brother’s body back to the country for funeral arrangements.
Both Sandoval and Luna were members of Casa, the organisation said in a statement: “Our hearts break knowing that Miguel and Maynor were part of the six essential workers who were on the bridge when it came tumbling down...They had a dream of a better future for themselves and their families and made the brave decision to travel to this country for a brighter future.”
“In a time when there is so much hatred against the immigrant community, we look to the story of Maynor and Miguel who built bridges to connect communities, not building walls to divide them. Today and always we honor them and their sacrifices,” the group wrote.
Collapse could fuel reinsurance pricing
According to the Wall Street Journal, the cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge will largely fall on reinsurers.
If the losses from the incident end up at the higher end of estimates, which are currently $2bn to $4bn, then insurers may add reserves to social inflation which could cause them to seek higher prices, the outlet reported.
Last year, natural catastrophe losses were capped at $108bn, above the 10-year average of $89bn.
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