Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News As the sun rose on March 26 in Baltimore, Maria del Carmen Castellón received news she never expected: her husband, Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, was missing in the cold, dark waters of Maryland’s Patapsco River.
“I heard a knock on the door from my husband’s son,” she recalled. “It was news I would never want any wife to hear. At that moment, I wished I had wings so I could fly and save him.”
Luna, a 49-year-old father of three from El Salvador, was one of eight workers repairing potholes on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. when it was hit by a 948ft (289m) cargo ship. – The M/V Dali – is estimated to have dumped between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of waste into the shipping channel below.
Six workers – all from Latin America – died in the bridge collapse.
It took more than five weeks for Luna’s body to be found in early May.
“It was the hardest day of my life,” Ms. Castellón said. “It opened a wound in my heart that will never heal.”
Now, six months after the disaster, the families of the three dead workers are suing shipping company Grace Ocean Private Ltd, alleging its “negligence” and actions directly led to the bridge collapse and the deaths of their loved ones.
“We are fighting for justice,” Castellón added, speaking in Spanish to reporters at the Baltimore office of Casa, an immigration-focused advocacy organization. “Justice means preventing future tragedies.”
Getty ImagesWhile the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident, a preliminary report released in May found that the Dali lost power four times in the less than 12 hours before it collided with the Key Bridge.
“There’s still a lot we don’t know,” said Matthew Wessler, an attorney working on behalf of the three families. “But from our perspective, [the repeated loss of power] should have led the ship to fully assess what went wrong and fix the problem.”
In federal court earlier this year, Grace Ocean sought to limit its legal exposure following the disaster.
When contacted by the BBC, a spokesperson for Grace Ocean said the filing of compensation claims from the families was “expected”, but the company “will not be making any further comment on the validity of any claims” at this time.
The lawsuit is one of several that Synergy and Grace Ocean face following the accident.
The city of Baltimore and several local business owners have also sued the companies, arguing that the ship was unseaworthy when it departed in March.
Jossie Flor Sapunar/CASASpeaking to reporters in Baltimore on Tuesday, Ms. Castellón recalled that the day before the accident, the couple had gone to look at a rental property where they planned to open a small restaurant.
The two used to work together at a mobile food truck, and Luna often helped him out when he wasn’t working construction.
“As we looked out the window, we talked about a future where he would no longer have to endure this dangerous work,” Ms. Castellón said, crying. “Those moments were filled with laughter and love,” she added.
“But those dreams were shattered that morning when I lost him,” Ms. Castellón added.
That night when he went to work, he left her a letter signed “I love you”.
“I always keep that in my heart,” she added.
Immigration lawyers and advocates working with the families said they also hope the case will highlight The work is often dangerous – but important – of immigrants to the United States.
