The body of a fourth construction worker who died when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore on March 26 was brought out of the water on Sunday.
Carlos Daniel Hernandez, who was working on the bridge at the time of the tragedy, was still trapped in a construction vehicle under the debris.
According to Maryland police, Hernandez’s body was found after members of the Key Bridge’s Unified Command response team came across one of the missing construction vehicles.
“Authorities responded and found a deceased victim trapped in the vehicle,” police said without identifying Hernandez.
However, Alicia Barcena, Mexico’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that the victim, Hernandez, is one of that country’s citizens.
“Carlos Daniel represents our workers in the United States,” she wrote on the social media platform X.
RNews reported earlier that the bridge collapsed when a giant cargo ship plowed into it. Eight construction workers were repairing potholes on the bridge when the disaster occurred shortly after midnight US time.
Two construction workers were pulled alive from the water moments after the collapse.
The bodies of two other construction workers, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes (35) and his colleague Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera (26), were found a day after the incident in a pickup truck in the cold water of the Baltimore harbor.
On 5 April, diving teams found the body of another missing worker, Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval (38). Two workers are still missing and presumed dead.
The cargo ship, about 300 m long, issued an emergency signal shortly before the collision, which gave the police a chance to stop traffic on the bridge. It probably saved lives.
However, the team of eight construction workers on the bridge could not be reached in time, and it collapsed with the structure into the Patapsco River.
According to international reports, the American Federal Detective Service (FBI) has launched an investigation into the incident.
