The wife of one of the construction workers who survived the Baltimore bridge collapse said she was on a break when the tragedy occurred. She said it was a “miracle” that her husband survived because he can’t swim.
“The men were all resting in the car when the boat hit. I don’t know if they were warned before the collision,” said Julio Cervantes’ wife. told NBC News on Thursday.
“My husband doesn’t know how to swim. It’s a miracle he survived,” added the relieved wife, who did not give her name.
Cervantes and seven other construction workers were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when the malfunctioning Dali container ship hit a support column and the 2.6-mile-long container ship crashed into the Patapsco River early Tuesday.
He and another man were the only workers rescued.
On Wednesday, the bodies of Alejandro Hernández Fuentes, 35, and Dorrian Lonial Castillo Cabrera, 26, were discovered in a red pickup truck under eight meters of water.
The remaining four workers have not been found and are presumed dead.
Cervantes’ wife told NBC News that one of the men whose bodies were recovered was his brother-in-law, but she did not release his name, and that his nephew was among those missing.
“I couldn’t sleep because I was waiting to hear if my relatives were found,” she told the outlet.
Colleague Moises Diaz had planned to fill in the blanks on that fateful day until a last-minute schedule change. told CBS News: “Every day we thank God for our lives.”
He added: “I thought of my friends as family, friends who died in this tragedy.”
Cervantes managed to crawl out the window of the sinking truck, but his chest was compressed in his desperate escape, Diaz told the news agency, adding on Thursday that the survivor was in stable condition.
“He thought, ‘I’m going to die here,'” Diaz said. “And even though he couldn’t swim, he survived.”
Other workers still missing are Mayor Yasir Suazo Sandoval, 38, a father of two from Honduras, and Miguel Luna, a father of three who came to the United States from El Salvador about 20 years ago. (49 years old).
The incident, which was captured on video, shocked the nation, raised concerns about the supply chain and traumatized local residents who considered the bridge a jewel of the city.
President Joe Biden has vowed to rebuild the span as soon as possible.
The National Transportation Safety Board and others are investigating the cause of the accident and the subsequent collapse of the bridge.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned that the state faces a “very long road” to recovery from bridge losses after the Biden administration approved $60 million in immediate federal aid.
