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.
