Body of sixth and final victim of Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster is recovered and identified as 37-year-old construction worker who was working on crossing when it was struck by container ship
The body of the sixth and final victim of the tragic Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, has now been recovered and identified.
The bridge collapse on March 26, caused by the Dali container ship losing power and crashing into a support column, shocked the world when six construction workers were killed.
While five of them were recovered and named, authorities on Tuesday identified and named the final victim of the collapse Jose Mynor Lopez, 37, a construction worker from Baltimore who was working on the bridge when it collapsed.
“Today, Jose Mynor Lopez, the sixth and final missing victim, was found,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon M Scott said on X, formerly Twitter.
The joint task force, made up of local and state police, the U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies, said Lopez’s family had been notified.
While five of them were recovered and identified, authorities on Tuesday recovered and identified the final victim of the collapse, naming him 37-year-old Jose Mynor Lopez (photo)
Lopez was a construction worker from Baltimore who was working on the bridge when it collapsed
The 300 meter long Dali ship (photo) had issued a Mayday call just before the collision
Maryland State Police said the body’s recovery was a “milestone” in recovery efforts.
Work to fully reopen the channel would continue “as we close this chapter of this (restoration) effort,” Scott said.
The 300-metre Dali ship had issued a Mayday call just before the collision, giving police time to stop traffic to the bridge, likely saving lives.
But an eight-man construction crew repairing holes in the bridge could not be reached in time and dumped the tons of concrete and twisted steel into the Patapsco River.
The other victims were named in the days and weeks after the collapse.
Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, was described as a loving father and an exceptional person.
Workers cut off steel sections of the Key Bridge for recycling after the freighter Dali collided and collapsed at the Patapsco River entrance to the Port of Baltimore
The bridge of the freighter Dali can be seen through the remains of the Key Bridge
A memorial honoring the construction workers who died in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is located on the side of the road near the blockade to Fort Armistead Park
He had lived in the US for 19 years, after moving from El Salvador.
Gustavo Torres, the executive director of CASA, who describes himself as a “national powerhouse for immigrant mobilization,” previously said of Gonzalez, “He really wanted to be a small business owner, and part of his passion was to be a to contribute to the community. .’
Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, meanwhile, arrived from Honduras 17 years ago and last rested on April 20, a week before his 39th birthday. He left behind a wife and two children.
Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes was reportedly one of the first victims identified after the bridge collapse.
He left Mexico 15 years ago to join his mother and sister in the U.S. and was living in Baltimore at the time of his death.
Birds rest on the remains of the Key Bridge after the freighter Dali collided and collapsed
Miguel Angel Luna González
Bridge worker Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes in Baltimore
Honduras Mayor Yassir Suazo Sandoval
Carlos Daniel Hernández
Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera
Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, was originally from Guatemala and was the second youngest of the six victims.
The youngest was Carlos Daniel Hernández, who was only 24. During a visit to Baltimore in the wake of the collapse, President Joe Biden read a text message that Hernández sent his girlfriend before his death.
He wrote: ‘We just poured cement and are waiting for it to dry.’
Biden said in response to Hernández’s texts: “We will not rest, as Carlos said, until the cement of the entire new bridge – a new bridge – dries.”
The Dali container ship has been idle among the wreckage since its collapse, but crews plan to refloat and remove the ship so that more maritime traffic can resume through the Port of Baltimore.
Officials expect it to be removed by May 10, according to a news release from the Port of Baltimore.