Loved ones await recovery of 2 bodies from Baltimore bridge wreckage a month after the collapse
BALTIMORE– A wooden cross is laden with Miguel Luna’s personal belongings — his construction uniform and work boots, a family photo, the flag of his native El Salvador — but his body remains missing after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
More than a month has passed since six members of a roadworks crew fell to their deaths when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s support columns. Four bodies have been recovered, but Luna and another worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, have not been found.
They were all Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. They were fathers and husbands, brothers and grandfathers. They shared a common dream and the determination to achieve it.
In an effort to honor their lives and work, Baltimore County’s tight-knit Latino community built an elaborate memorial near the south side of the bridge. It features decorated wooden crosses, a painted canvas backdrop, bouquets of flowers, candles and a giant custom American flag with six stars – one for each of the men.
A group of mourners gathered at the memorial Friday evening to offer support to the victims’ loved ones and to remind the public that even as cleanup efforts proceed on schedule and maritime traffic through the Port of Baltimore resumes, two families remain be healed.
“It’s been a month and there are still two bodies underwater,” said Fernando Sajche, who knew Luna and helped build the monument. “We really need answers.”
Sajche, who emigrated from Guatemala sixteen years ago and works in construction himself, said it is not lost on anyone that the victims died on the job.
“They are the people who do the hard work in this country,” Sajche said.
The men were patching holes in the bridge in the early hours of March 26 when the ship veered off course. A last-minute distress call from the ship’s pilot allowed police officers to stop traffic to the bridge just before the collapse, but they did not have enough time to warn workers.
One of the officers who helped block traffic stopped by the vigil on Friday and briefly visited some of Luna’s relatives. He admired the monument and praised the community’s warm response to an unthinkable tragedy.
Organizers used two cranes to raise Salvadoran and Guatemalan flags high in the air in honor of Luna and Mynor Lopez.
Marcoin Mendoza, who worked with Luna several years ago as a welder, said Luna came to the U.S. to make a better life for himself and his family, like so many other immigrants.
“Same dream as everyone else,” Mendoza said. “Hard work.”
Luna was best known in his community because his wife owns a local food truck that specializes in pupusas and other Salvadoran staples. He often spent his days helping out at the food truck and nights working construction.
As the sun set Friday evening, mourners listened to mariachi music and passed out bowls of soup and beans. They lit candles and prayed together.
Bernardo Vargas, who helped build the memorial, said he appreciates being able to do something for the victims’ families.
“I’ll be here every day until they find those two people,” he said.
Standing in front of the memorial’s elaborately painted backdrop, he pointed to a group of red handprints made by Luna’s relatives. They stood out among abstract images of the bridge collapse and rescue efforts, as well as a violent scene from the US southern border showing a line of armored officers fighting back desperate migrants.
Family members left messages in English and Spanish.
“Everything ends here, all your ambitions and all your work. Now rest until the day the trumpets sound,” someone had written in Spanish. “You will live on in the hearts of your loving family.”