Construction worker escaped Baltimore Key Bridge collapse after shift change: ‘I give thanks to God’
DUNDALK, Maryland — A Baltimore construction worker who would have been on the Francis Scott Key Bridge if not for a last-minute shift change is mourning his colleagues who died when the structure collapsed.
Moises Diaz, 45, of Brawner Builders is grieving for the men he viewed as “family” — while also counting his blessings after avoiding the disaster, he told The Post in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
“If I didn’t ask to switch, I would have been in the water right now,” Diaz said through a translator.
“It’s tragic. I’m really appreciative that I wasn’t on the bridge. I give thanks to God.”
At least eight people working on the bridge plunged into the Patapsco River when a massive shipping container lost power and barreled into the structure.
Two people — a state inspector and a contractor from an engineering firm — were rescued shortly after, one of whom was seriously injured and the other who refused treatment.
The bodies of two construction workers with Brawner Builders were pulled from a red pick-up truck submerged 25 feet below the surface around 10 a.m. near the middle span of the bridge Wednesday morning.
The two victims were identified as 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, who was from Mexico and lived in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, who was from Guatemala and lived in Dundalk.
Four other men on the Brawner Builders crew are still missing, but are presumed dead.
Diaz identified them as Miguel Luna of El Salvador, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval of Honduras, Jose of Guatemala and Carlos of Mexico.
“They were good people,” Diaz said of the workers.
The group was on break at the time of the tragedy, and sitting in their cars drinking coffee and eating when the bridge collapsed.
“When I found out about it, I got a notification. I remembered, ‘Oh my coworkers are on that bridge working. What happened to them?'” Diaz said.
According to Diaz, he and his crew have been continuously working to fill potholes in the asphalt of the bridge.
The Brawner Builders men built close relationships during their long shifts working in different tunnels and bridges in the Baltimore metro area.
“We are all basically a family. We work 8-10 hour shifts and are all close to one another,” Diaz said.
He spoke with Sandoval’s brother-in-law in the hours after the tragedy, and indicated that the family has already come to terms with their loved one’s death despite his remains still having not been located.
“They’re worried,” he said. “They at least want to know that the bodies are in the water. All the families are hoping that they at least find the bodies of them.”
“They were good citizens. They were good workers, hard-working. They were good family members, husbands and dads.”
Rescuers suspended search and rescue efforts shortly after finding the pair, with officials saying the conditions were too dangerous to continue.
Once the debris from the bridge is removed from the water, divers will be deployed once again to locate the remaining cars and bodies.
The cause of the disastrous overnight collision is still unclear, but the Coast Guard revealed the container ship had been undergoing “routine engine maintenance” in the port shortly before it lost power.