Baltimore bridge collapse dive team recovers body of third construction worker

Authorities believe six workers plunged into frigid river when bridge collapsed

A dive team has recovered a third body from the water following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.

The worker was identified as 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, according to a statement on Friday from Unified Command, who is handling the recovery operation.

The bridge collapsed at 1.30am on 26 March after a cargo ship collided with a supporting pier. Six men, all of whom were Latino immigrant workers, were on the bridge at the time and are presumed dead, authorities have said.

Suazo-Sandoval, a native of Honduras, was married with a son, 18, and five-year-old daughter. He also leaves behind his siblings, who live in both Honduras and Maryland.

Carlos Alexis Suazo-Sandoval, Maynor’s brother, told The Washington Post that he was relieved the body had been found.

The body of Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval was recovered from the site of the Baltimore bridge collapse on Friday (Supplied)

“That was the #1 goal,” he wrote in Spanish, via WhatsApp. “Thank God.”

The worker’s nephew, Hector Guardado, told the paper in Spanish that the news was “hard, but at the same time comforting.”

Suazo Sandoval left Honduras at 18 for the United States and never returned due to his immigration status, according to USA Today.

His brother, Martin Suazo, described Maynor as a “generous man” and an entrepreneur who traveled to the US in “search of a better life,” NPR reported.

Suazo-Sandoval and his wife raised their children in Maryland, and he contributed to his community by working with the nonprofit CASA. In addition to volunteer work, he also donated money to youth soccer leagues in his hometown of Azacualpa, family said.

Carlos Suazo Sandoval, another brother, described Maynor as a “joyful person who had a vision,” according to CNN en Español.

Suazo-Sandoval’s family is planning to repatriate his body to Honduras for burial.

Wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali (AP)

The bodies of two other victims were covered in the immediate aftermath of the collapse from a vehicle that had fallen into the Patapsco River. Dorian Castillo Cabrera, a 25-year-old from Guatemala, and Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, from Mexico.

Three more workers are still missing in the river.

“The collapse of the Key Bridge is undoubtedly one of the most challenging tragedies we have faced as a law enforcement agency. Along with our local, state and federal public safety partners, we will not give up,” Colonel Roland L Butler, Jr, Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, said.

“There are families still waiting to hear if we have found their loved one. I can promise you, we are fully committed to finding closure for each of these families.”

A dive crew prepares to send a diver beneath the water surrounding the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland (EPA)

President Joe Biden visited the site of the bridge disaster on Friday where he vowed that he and his administration “will not rest” until a replacement is built.

“We’re going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge,” the president said.

Mr Biden also paid tribute to the “hard-working, strong, and selfless” workers who lost their lives while working on the bridge.

The president has called on Congress to fund the cost of a new bridge, arguing it will speed construction. Republicans have said that the money should come from the owner of the Dali, the container ship which struck the bridge’s support after it lost propulsion on 26 March.

The Biden administration has steered $60m in emergency funds into the initial federal salvage and recovery effort.

Andrew Feinberg contributed reporting to this story