Body of third victim of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse recovered
The body of a third construction worker killed in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse was recovered by authorities on Friday.
Divers found 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval in the wreckage around 10:30 a.m., 11 days after the disaster that claimed the lives of six workers who had been repairing potholes on the bridge.
“The collapse of the Key Bridge is undoubtedly one of the most challenging tragedies we have faced as a law enforcement agency,” said Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police.
“Along with our local, state and federal public safety partners, we will not give up,” said Butler. “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.”
Suazo-Sandoval was an avid fan of the soccer team F.C. Motagua, who sent money back to Honduras to buy medicine for sick relatives, birthday cakes for celebrations and soccer uniforms for kids from across his town.
His brother, Carlos Alexis Suazo Sandoval, said family members are relieved Suazo-Sandoval’s body was recovered, telling the Washington Post that, “That was the #1 goal.”
“We have been anguished as a family,” Guardado said, adding that the news was “hard, but at the same time comforting.”
“The only thing that we asked at the end is that his body could be found,” he added.
Hours after the recovery, the Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles announced they would donate $10 million to the Baltimore Community Foundation’s Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Key Bridge Fund, with the funds benefitting the families, port workers, first responders and small businesses affected by the tragedy.
Authorities did not provide any details on the recovery or where Suazo-Sandoval’s body was found, but Mayor Brandon Scott confirmed he was one of the construction workers who fell into the Patapsco River when a container ship lost power and barreled into one of the bridge’s support beams.
The workers were part of a construction crew working to repair potholes on the bridge, but were in their cars enjoying their break when the bridge collapsed.
The bodies of two construction workers with Brawner Builders were pulled from a red pick-up truck submerged 25 feet below the surface near the middle span of the bridge one day after the disaster.
The bodies of three others have yet to be recovered.
Recovery crews said earlier this week that they were carefully removing the heaps of steel and concrete at the site of the collapse, which they believe had trapped the remaining victim’s bodies.
The US Army Corps of Engineers said the mission would be “very difficult and challenging” because the civility of the water is just one or two feet.
Divers are utilizing sonar mapping of the mangled disaster to navigate the wreck, to both bring home the bodies of the victims and to salvage what was once the iconic bridge.
The owners of the ship, Synergy and Grace Ocean, filed a court petition Monday seeking to limit their legal liability, a routine but important procedure for cases litigated under US maritime law. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who is responsible and how much they owe.
