New video shows rescue of only construction worker to survive fall from Key Bridge collapse
BALTIMORE -- New video shows part of the rescue of the sole construction worker who survived the fall from the Key Bridge after its collapse more than four months ago.
The video shows Julio Cervantes Suarez being brought to a pier at Fort Armistead Park after being rescued from the frigid water by boat. He was still wearing his construction vest.
The newly released video, obtained by WJZ through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows officers searching the shoreline not knowing what they would find.
They soon received word that a survivor was headed their way.
"They're bringing a victim in now. They rescued them out of the water. They just need him to get warm," an officer said.
Survivor heads to the waiting ambulance
Just before 2 a.m. on March 26, Cervantes Suarez was led off the boat and onto the pier where he was able to walk to a waiting ambulance.
His brother-in-law and nephew were among those who died.
Once Cervantes Suarez was safe, the officers talked about how incredible it was that he was still alive.
"That guy looked like he was all right, but it's cold. He was shaken up pretty good. Yeah, that's a long fall," they said.
Manual windows likely saved life
Just minutes before the fall, Cervantes Suarez was on a break with his fellow workers who had spent the early morning hours filling potholes on the bridge before the Dali cargo ship slammed into it and caused it to collapse.
He was inside his pickup truck, which hit the Patapsco River and quickly began to fill with water
His lawyer L. Chris Stewart previously described to WJZ what saved his life.
"He survived because his window was manual. He was able to roll down the window and escape. You can imagine how frightening that is," Stewart said.
Clung to steel debris
Once out of his truck, Cervantes Suarez clung to a piece of steel from the bridge and turned on the light from his construction helmet so first responders could find him.
He could not swim.
"It has left him with severe emotional pain and suffering because also he lost family members," Stewart said.
The survivors and families of those who lost their lives are still pursuing legal action against the Dali's owner in court.
Those who died in the bridge collapse were 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 24-year-old Carlos Hernandez, 49-year-old Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez and 35-year-old Jose Mynor Lopez.
