The remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lie in the Patapsco River.Photo:MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty
The wife of Jose López, one of four construction workersstill missingafter theFrancis Scott Key Bridgecollapsed into the Patapsco River, described her agony days after the tragedy.
“I feel bad,” Isabel Franco told theCBS affiliate WJZin Spanish. “Only God knows how hard my heart aches. Maybe he was desperate, trying to escape.”
Franco said her husband was in a concrete mixer early Tuesday morning when a cargo shipslammed into the bridgeand caused it to collapse, according toCBS affiliate WJZ.
She said the construction company her husband worked for called her about four hours after the incident and delivered the heartbreaking news.
López moved to the United States from Guatemala 19 years ago, Franco told WJZ. His goal, according toThe New York Times, was to make a better life for himself and his family.
López was among the first in his family to move to the United States, according to the paper. He took his most recent job about two years ago.
“He was there to work,” Jose’s brother Jovani López said Thursday, per theTimes. “Who could’ve ever imagined this?”
The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lies on top of the container ship Dali in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 29, 2024, as clean-up work begins.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty
Franco — who works for the Owls Corner Café in Dundalk, according toCNN— is receiving support from her employer in the wake of Tuesday’s tragedy.
AGoFundMecampaign has been started to “benefit Isabel and her kids directly” with things like “weekly expenses, monthly bills and to cover any unexpected necessities.”
López was the father of “three beautiful children, ages 17, 8 and 5,” café co-owner Josue Latorre said in the description of the online fundraiser. The family now faces “an uncertain future without their main provider and pillar of strength,” he added.
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“The Keybridge Disaster took away not just a life, but the stability and security this family once knew,” Latorre continued, noting that López was “the sole breadwinner” of his family.
The remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lie in the Patapsco River after the container ship Dali struck it on March 26, in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 29, 2024, as clean-up work begins.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty
Lilly Ordoñez, who also co-owns the café, told CNN that López’s eldest daughter is supporting her mother through this difficult time. The two younger children still do not understand the situation, she added.
“Jose was a great man, husband, and dad,” Ordoñez said Wednesday. She described the late father of three as “an extremely hard-working individual, a great provider, and family man.”
“She’s desperate. She feels bad. She doesn’t see anything. She doesn’t know anything and, yeah, she’s desperate,” Ordoñez said.
Lopez was also friends with Dorlian Cabrera, whose body was recovered Wednesday, Franco said, per WJZ.
The remains of Cabrera, 26, and Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35,were foundinside a pickup truck that was under about 25 feet of water, authorities said during a press conference.
source: people.com
