Body of fifth Baltimore Bridge collapse victim is pulled from wreckage 37 days after disaster

The body of a fifth construction worker who died in the disastrous collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has been found five weeks after the tragic incident.

The victim has been identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, state officials announced in a news release.

Gonzalez was one of six workers who went missing after they were still on the bridge in the early hours of the morning on 26 March at the time the container ship the Dali struck the 1.6-mile long structure when they lost power, sending the workers into the Patapsco River below as the bridge collapsed.

The worker was found by Unified Command salvage teams on Wednesday after they located one of the missing construction vehicles at the Key Bridge incident site and immediately notified Maryland State Police.

Investigators from the police department, along with officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the FBI all responded to the scene, where they recovered the body that was inside a red truck.

This is the fifth construction worker that authorities have recovered while continued efforts have been carried out to restore marine traffic in the area and remove giant pieces of the tangled bridge in the river.

One worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, remains unaccounted for.

Miguel Luna, 49, was the first vicitm to be named while the six construction workers were presumed dead following the bridge collapse (Supplied)

“We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family,” Colonel Roland L Butler, Jr, superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police said in a statement.

“Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.”

The state police underwater recovery team and the crime scene unit also assisted at the scene.

Eight workers were filling potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse; two managed to survive, while six others, including Gonzalez, lost their lives.

Divers were able to quickly recover the bodies of 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera a day after the bridge collapse after an initial search for the missing workers recovered a submerged truck.

Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez’s body was found on 1 May by salvage teams after they located one of the workers’ missing vehicles (Supplied)

The body of 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval was found on 5 April by divers as the search continued, and salvage teams found a deceased fourth unnamed worker trapped inside a vehicle over a week later while they were clearing debris from the channel.

Gonzalez, who was from El Salvador, was the first of the six victims to be named by devastated family members in the early days of the search, identifying him as “Miguel Luna”.

The worker was married with three children, according to Gustavo Torres, the executive director of the nonprofit CASA, an organisation that provides services around Baltimore and other areas to immigrant communities.

“Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, left at 6:30 p.m. Monday evening for work and since, has not come home. He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years,” CASA wrote in a statement last month.

Following the bridge collapse, his wife María del Carmen Castellón told NBC sister station Telemundo 44 that family members were able to get into the restricted zone.

“They only tell us that we have to wait, that for now, they can’t give us information,” she said at the time.

“[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken because we don’t know if they’ve rescued them yet. We’re just waiting to hear any news.”

Salvage workers have continued to remove the large pieces of debris a month after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

One of Luna’s children, Marvin Luna, told The Washington Post that he knew his father was working on the Key Bridge overnight but did not know it collapsed until one of his friends called him up and said, “The bridge is … gone.”

Marvin then called his father’s phone, but there was no reply.

The recovery of Gonzalez’s body comes a week after a memorial was held for him on Friday, along with the final missing worker, Mynor Lopez, and the four other victims, with community members coming to offer support for all their families.

Organisers used two cranes to hoist Salvadoran and Guatemalan flags high into the air in honour of Gonzalez and Mynor Lopez.

As authorities continue to tirelessly shift the tangled heavy debris of what is left of the Key Scott Bridge, the Port of Baltimore said they are hoping to reopen the port’s main channel by the end of May, which will help to restore marine traffic and alleviate economic pressures. Crews also plan to refloat and remove the Dali that has been stationary near the incident site ever since the collapse.

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