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 got a knock on the door from my husband’s son,” she recollects. “It’s news I wouldn’t wish on any wife. At that moment, I wished I had wings so I could fly and save him.”
Luna, a 49-year-old father of three initially from El Salvador, was one among eight employees 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 delivery channel under.
Six of the employees – all initially from Latin America – died within the bridge collapse.
It could be greater than 5 weeks till Luna’s physique was recovered in early Might.
“That was the hardest day of my life,” Ms Castellón stated. “It opened a wound in my heart that will never heal.”
Now, six months on from the catastrophe, the households of three of the useless employees are suing the delivery firm, Grace Ocean Non-public Ltd, arguing that its “negligence” and actions instantly led to the collapse of the bridge and the deaths of their family members.
“We’re fighting for justice,” added Ms Castellón, talking in Spanish to reporters on the Baltimore workplaces of Casa, an advocacy organisation targeted on immigrants. “Justice means preventing future tragedies.”
Getty PhotosWhereas 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 a lot that we still don’t know,” stated Matthew Wessler, a lawyer engaged on behalf of the three households. “But in our view, that [the repeated loss of power] should have led the ship to fully assess what had gone wrong and fix the problem.”
In federal court docket earlier this yr, Grace Ocean sought to restrict its authorized publicity from the catastrophe.
Contacted by the BBC, a spokesman for Grace Ocean stated the submitting of claims from the households “was anticipated”, however the firm “will have no further comments on the merits of any claim” in the intervening time.
The lawsuit is one among a number of confronted by Synergy and Grace Ocean within the wake of the accident.
The town of Baltimore and a set of native enterprise homeowners have additionally sued the corporations, claiming that the ship was unseaworthy when it set off for its March voyage.
Jossie Flor Sapunar/CASATalking to 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 looked through the windows, we spoke about a future in which he wouldn’t have to suffer at a dangerous job,” Ms Castellón stated, crying. “Those moments were filled with laughter, and love,” she added.
“But those dreams were shattered that morning when I lost him,” Ms Castellón added.
That evening as he left for work, he left her a letter which he signed off with “I love you”.
“I carry that in my heart now,” she added.
Attorneys and immigration advocates working with the households say additionally they hope the incident highlights the customarily harmful – however essential work – of immigrants within the US.
