Survivor of Baltimore Bridge Collapse Reveals His Fight for Survival

Julio Cervantes Suarez, the sole survivor of the catastrophic collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, recounted his harrowing experience in an exclusive interview with NBC News. Suarez described watching in horror as his coworkers, friends, and relatives, including his nephew and brother-in-law, plunged to their deaths. The tragedy occurred on March 26 when a massive cargo ship, Dali, lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns while Suarez and his roadwork crew were filling potholes on the bridge.

During a break, Suarez and his colleagues were in their construction vehicles when the bridge suddenly began to crumble. A mayday call from the ship’s pilot allowed nearby police to stop traffic moments before the collapse, but there was no time to alert the workers. Suarez, 37, described thanking God for his family as he faced almost certain death. Miraculously, he managed to manually roll down the window of his rapidly sinking truck and escape into the frigid Patapsco River. Realizing the bridge was gone, he called out to his companions, but no one answered. Unable to swim, Suarez clung to a piece of floating concrete until rescued by first responders. He was hospitalized for a chest wound.

The collapse resulted in the deaths of six people, all Latino immigrants who had come to the U.S. for work opportunities. In the aftermath, Baltimore County’s Latino community constructed an elaborate memorial, and it took six weeks for salvage divers to recover all the bodies. Suarez expressed his grief and the haunting memories of the fall, remembering the victims as good people and hardworking individuals.

The National Transportation Safety Board found that the cargo ship Dali had experienced power outages before its voyage from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, but the exact causes remain undetermined. The FBI is also conducting a criminal investigation. The ship’s owner and manager, Singapore-based companies, filed a court petition to limit their legal liability, which has been challenged by the City of Baltimore and other entities. Lawyers for the victims and their families, including Suarez, have pledged to hold these companies accountable.

A federal court in Maryland will ultimately determine responsibility and financial compensation in what could become one of the most expensive maritime disasters in history. Officials have committed to rebuilding the bridge, a project estimated to cost at least $1.7 billion and take several years. Maryland senators have called for Congress to approve federal funding to cover the rebuild effort entirely. The remaining sections of the bridge will be demolished to make way for the new structure.