Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC Information Because the solar was rising Baltimore 26 March, Maria del Carmen Castellón acquired information that she by no means anticipated: her husband, Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, was lacking within the chilly, darkish waters of Maryland’s Patapsco river.
“I received a knock on the door from my husband’s son,” she remembers. “It is information I would not want on any spouse. At that second, I needed I had wings so I may fly and save him.”
Luna, a 49-year-old father of three initially from El Salvador, was certainly one of eight staff fixing potholes on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge when it was struck by a 948ft (289m) cargo ship – the M/V Dali – sending an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes of particles into the transport channel beneath.
Six of the employees – all initially from Latin America – died within the bridge collapse.
It might be greater than 5 weeks till Luna’s physique was recovered in early Might.
“That was the toughest day of my life,” Ms Castellón mentioned. “It opened a wound in my coronary heart that may by no means heal.”
Now, six months on from the catastrophe, the households of three of the useless staff are suing the transport firm, Grace Ocean Non-public Ltd, arguing that its “negligence” and actions straight led to the collapse of the bridge and the deaths of their family members.
“We’re combating for justice,” added Ms Castellón, talking in Spanish to reporters on the Baltimore workplaces of Casa, an advocacy organisation centered on immigrants. “Justice means stopping future tragedies.”
Getty PhotographsWhereas a Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) investigation into the incident is ongoing, a preliminary report issued in Might discovered that the Dali had misplaced electrical energy 4 occasions in a span of lower than 12 hours earlier than colliding with the Key Bridge.
“There’s lots that we nonetheless do not know,” mentioned Matthew Wessler, a lawyer engaged on behalf of the three households. “However in our view, that [the repeated loss of power] ought to have led the ship to totally assess what had gone flawed and repair the issue.”
In federal courtroom earlier this 12 months, Grace Ocean sought to restrict its authorized publicity from the catastrophe.
Contacted by the BBC, a spokesman for Grace Ocean mentioned the submitting of claims from the households “was anticipated”, however the firm “may have no additional feedback on the deserves of any declare” in the meanwhile.
The lawsuit is certainly one of a number of confronted by Synergy and Grace Ocean within the wake of the accident.
The town of Baltimore and a group of native enterprise homeowners have additionally sued the companies, claiming that the ship was unseaworthy when it set off for its March voyage.
Jossie Flor Sapunar/CASAChatting with reporters in Baltimore on Tuesday, Ms Castellón recalled that the day earlier than the accident, the couple went to have a look at a rental property the place they had been hoping to open a small restaurant.
The 2 had already labored collectively on a meals truck, with Luna serving to when not at his development job.
“As we appeared by way of the home windows, we spoke a few future by which he would not must endure at a harmful job,” Ms Castellón mentioned, crying. “These moments had been stuffed with laughter, and love,” she added.
“However these goals had been shattered that morning once I misplaced him,” Ms Castellón added.
That evening as he left for work, he left her a letter which he signed off with “I like you”.
“I carry that in my coronary heart now,” she added.
Legal professionals and immigration advocates working with the households say in addition they hope the incident highlights the often dangerous – but crucial work – of immigrants within the US.
