Julio Cervantes Suarez was sitting in his truck with six construction workers in their own vehicles in the early morning hours of March 26 when he took a break from repairing potholes on Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Cervantes Suárez, after his own vehicle was submerged in water He said he was unable to open any of the doors and had to manually roll down the windows to escape. He said He scaled a concrete slab from the rubble and waited for rescuers.
One of the two survivors was Cervantes Suarez. He narrated the tragic incident In his first interview with NBC News. The show aired on Wednesday.
In the interview, Cervantes Suarez recalled looking for other workers.
« I started calling each of them by name, » he said in Spanish. « But nobody answered me. »
His son-in-law Carlos Daniel Hernandez, whom he considered a son, was the first to fall.
Cervantes Suarez told NBC He didn't think so He will survive the fall.
« I thanked God [the] The family he gave me,” she said. « I asked him to take care of my wife and children. I apologized for everything I had done.
Cervantes Suarez, who told NBC He said that he was still in physical pain and that he was really haunting him He told Hernandez to go to his car and rest.
“If I had asked him to come with me, it would have been different. Maybe he will be with us, » Cervantes told the Suárez network.
Federal investigators are still looking into the cause of the crash, which halted most trade at the Port of Baltimore and raised questions about whether federal and state officials are prepared to prevent similar disruptions. The FBI is conducting a separate, ongoing criminal investigation into whether Daly's team was aware of serious system problems before they began.
Cervantes Suarez said he wants all responsible parties, including the family of his brother-in-law Hernández Fuentes, to pay « for the damage they have done. » But, he told NBC, nothing can bring back what his family and others lost overnight.
« Because I know money isn't going to buy a hug from a father or a son, » he said.
