Baltimore Key Bridge Collapse Survivor Gives First Testimony
After his own vehicle fell into the water, Cervantes Suarez said he was unable to open any doors and had to manually roll down the windows to escape. He said he I climbed up a concrete slab of the wreckage and waited for help.
Cervantes Suarez, one of the two survivors, recounted the tragic incident to NBC News in his first interview. The footage was released Wednesday.
In the interview, Cervantes Suarez recalls the search for other workers.
“I started calling them all by name,” he says in Spanish. “But no one answered me.”
He said that Carlos Daniel Hernandez, his nephew whom he considered his son, was the first to fall.
Cervantes Suarez told NBC that he didn’t think he would survive the fall.
“I thanked God for the family he gave me,” he said. “I asked him to take care of my wife and children. And I asked him to forgive me for everything I have done.”
Cervantes Suarez, who told NBC he still suffers from physical pain, said he is haunted by the fact that he had 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,” Cervantes Suarez told the channel.
Federal investigators are continuing to scrutinize the cause of the accident, which disrupted most trade at the Port of Baltimore and raised questions about the ability of federal and state authorities to prevent similar disruptions. The FBI has opened a separate criminal investigation to determine whether the Dali’s crew knew of serious problems with the system before it set sail.
Cervantes Suarez said he wants all responsible parties to “pay for the damage they’ve done,” including to the family of Hernández Fuentes, his brother-in-law. But, he told NBC, nothing can restore what his family and others lost overnight.
“Because I know money is not going to buy a hug from a father or a son,” he said.
News Source : www.washingtonpost.com
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