Newly released body-camera video shows the moment that Baltimore Police officers helped pull to land a construction worker who survived the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after first responders rescued him from the water.
The Baltimore Banner obtained a copy of the video on Tuesday through a Maryland Public Information Act request.
On March 26, the Dali, a 984-foot-long container ship, hit one of the main support piers of the bridge, which then tumbled into the Patapsco River. Six construction workers repairing potholes were killed in the catastrophe.
The video shows officers helping to pull Julio Cervantes Suarez onto a dock. He’s wearing a yellow construction vest.
Cervantes Suarez then walks toward land, where an ambulance has pulled up off to his left. At times, he grabs onto the railing.
“Be advised,” an officer called out over his radio to dispatch. “They got one out so far.”
Officers continue to have a conversation while heading toward a police SUV.
“That’s a long fall,” one said. “That guy looked like he was all right, but it’s cold.”
“He was shaken up pretty good,” another added.
In an interview with Tom Llamas at NBC News, Cervantes Suarez recalled how he was sitting in his truck during a break when the bridge collapsed.
“I thanked God for family he gave me. I asked him to take care of my wife and kids,” Cervantes Suarez said in Spanish. “And I asked for forgiveness for everything I’ve done.”
Cervantes Suarez said he manually rolled down the window and climbed onto a piece of the bridge that was floating in the water. He cannot swim.
“I started to call out to each one of them by name,” he said. “But no one answered me.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the disaster.
Grace Ocean Private, the owner of the Dali, and Synergy Marine Group, the manager of the ship, have filed a petition for exoneration from or limitation of liability in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.