Fifth body recovered from Baltimore bridge collapse site
By Joe Sutton, CNN
(CNN) — Authorities have recovered the body of a fifth victim in the Baltimore bridge collapse five weeks ago, officials said Wednesday.
The victim has been identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, according to the Unified Command, a joint task force composed of police, coast guard and other government agencies to respond to the disaster.
A 213-million-pound cargo vessel slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, crippling the structure and killing six workers repairing potholes on it. The bridge was used daily by some 30,000 Marylanders.
The six construction workers were immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala. After the discovery on Wednesday, one of the victims’ bodies was still missing.
CNN previously reported Luna, 49, was a husband and father of three from El Salvador who had lived in Maryland for more than 19 years, according to the nonprofit CASA, which provides critical services to working-class and immigrant families.
“Unified Command salvage teams located one of the missing construction vehicles and promptly notified the Maryland Department of State Police,” Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of Maryland’s State Police, said in the statement.
“Maryland State Police investigators along with officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body of a fifth construction worker inside a red truck,” he added.
Butler said his team is dedicated to the recovery operation “knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family.”
Investigations have been underway since mid-April to find out what caused the deadly incident.
The FBI and the US Coast Guard are leading a criminal investigation into the crash, a US official familiar with the matter told CNN previously.
The ship’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Limited, and manager, Synergy Marine PTE LTD, have filed a petition in federal court asking for a $43.6 million limit on potential liability payouts.
But both the city of Baltimore and attorneys for several victims are also seeking accountability.
The city of Baltimore said earlier that it would launch a “legal action to hold the wrongdoers responsible” and announced programs to help families of the victims as well as businesses and workers impacted by the catastrophe.
Attorneys representing the families of two deceased workers and a victim who survived the fall have started their own investigation.
The-CNN-Wire
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