One of the construction workers who survived the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore spoke out for the first time on Wednesday.
In an interview with NBC News, Julio Cervantes Suarez said that he manually rolled down his window to escape after his vehicle fell into the water. He said he climbed on top of a slab of concrete and waited to be rescued.
Suarez said in the interview that he recalled searching for the other crew members.
“I started to call out to each one of them by name,” Suarez said in Spanish. “But no one answered me.”
Suarez and his crew were on a break from fixing potholes on the bridge before the collapse. Six of his colleagues did not survive. They include Maynor Sandoval, Miguel Gonzalez, Jose Lopez, Alejandro Fuentes, Dorlian Cabrear, and Carlos Hernandez. They were employed by Brawner Builders.
Suarez said he is haunted that he told Hernandez to go to his car and rest.
“If I had told him to come with me, maybe it would have been different. Maybe he would be here with us,” Suarez told NBC News.
Federal investigators are still looking into the cause of the crash.
Suarez wants all responsible parties to “pay for the damage they have done,” including to the family of Fuentes, his brother-in-law. However, he told NBC that nothing can bring back what was lost.
“I know that money is not going to buy a hug from a father or a son,” Suarez said.
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Source: The Washington Post, NBC News, WBAL-TV 11
