Mexican Carlos Hernández, 24, was one of the victims of the bridge collapse, as confirmed by his mother, Lucía Zambrano. The tragic incident occurred on Tuesday at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, where Hernández, a construction worker, was presumed dead.
Speaking to CNN affiliate Univision, Zambrano expressed her disbelief and sorrow over the loss of her son. “I wake up, I want to think I’m dreaming, but I wake up and I know that this is reality, that my son was there,” she said. Zambrano is now seeking assistance to obtain a humanitarian visa to travel to Maryland, where the incident took place, in order to be with her son and press for the search efforts to continue.
Hernández’s girlfriend, Jazmín Álvarez, who resides in Mexico, also shared her account of how she learned about the tragedy. Using the GPS tracking on Hernández’s cell phone, Álvarez noticed that he was near the water, assuming he was on the bridge at the time. However, she grew increasingly concerned when he did not respond to her messages.
It was not until Hernández’s aunt Mariela contacted Álvarez at 4 in the morning that the full extent of the situation became clear. “She told me that they had been in an accident, but I never imagined it was that bad, I thought it was a car accident,” Álvarez recounted. She then played a voice message that Hernández had sent her just minutes before the bridge collapsed, where he mentioned that they had just poured cement and were waiting for it to dry.
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has sent shockwaves through the community, leaving families like Hernández’s devastated by the loss of their loved ones. As the search and rescue efforts continue, the hope remains that more victims will be found alive amidst the rubble.