It is believed that the six workers who disappeared after the naval accident that brought down the Francis Scott Key bridge, in the city of Baltimore, on the east coast of the United States, were Latino immigrants.
This was stated by Jesús Campos, another employee of the Brawner Builders company who was carrying out repair work on the asphalt of the bridge when a ship collided with one of its pillars, causing it to collapse in the early hours of Tuesday.
The United States Coast Guard reported that, given the time elapsed and the temperature of the water in which they fell, they are presumed dead. The ongoing rescue mission now becomes one of recovery.
Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said eight company employees were on the bridge when the Dali cargo ship hit it. He described what happened as a “terrible tragedy.”
From Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the workers were
Two of the workers were pulled from the water alive, one of them in serious condition. Later, the Guatemalan consulate in Maryland announced that two of the missing were Guatemalans.
Campos said that he was not working at the time of the accident because his shift had changed and he told local media that his co-workers were from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, like him.
Father Ako Walker, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in a Baltimore neighborhood, said he spent the day accompanying the families of the missing workers, waiting for news while rescue teams searched for them in the waters of the Patapsco River, where FBI divers used robotic cameras in search of any trace.
Walker delivered a brief sermon in Spanish: “Six of them are Latino,” he said, adding that the impact would be felt especially throughout the Spanish-speaking community. “It’s been difficult for the families,” he added. “There have been a lot of tears.”
An area with a high Latino population
Rescuers located a car in which some of those missing when the bridge collapsed are believed to have been found. Hopes of finding them diminished throughout the day.
The authorities no longer believe it is possible to find survivors. A Coast Guard spokesperson said the team will attempt to recover the victims’ bodies to provide closure for the families.
At Mount Olive Church, near the crash site, a vigil was held for the missing and their families.
There, Susana Vargas, a migrant rights activist, told the BBC that “many Latinos live in this area who work in construction and in restaurants.”
“Whenever there is a tragedy, [las víctimas] They are the migrants. We are the ones who do this type of work.”
Baltimore and its port are a vital point for the American economy and its transit of goods. The Baltimore area has a large immigrant population from Latin America, often employed in the toughest jobs, like the one performed by the six missing workers.
The accident that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge occurred during the early hours of the morning and left, in addition to the six missing, at least one seriously injured. It has not been possible to confirm whether other vehicles fell into the water during the infrastructure collapse.
The governor of the state of Maryland, Wes Moore, declared a state of emergency and the president of the United States, Joe Biden, assured that the federal government will cover all the costs of rebuilding the bridge and restoring the operation of the port of Baltimore.
Various voices have warned of the economic impact that the closure of a key port for the United States will have.
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