The families of migrant workers killed in the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge are due to go to court this week to demand the owners of the ship that downed the span be held responsible.
Kin of three of the six workers killed in the March mishap will file a legal request in federal court to hold Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Limited financially liable for the deadly collapse, their attorney told CBS News.
“They all have suffered an unimaginable tragedy, losing their loved ones, whether it was one of our clients who lost her husband and partner,” their attorney, Matthew Wessler, told the outlet.
“Another lost their son,” Wessler said. “And we think that accountability, or they think that justice here, means holding those responsible accountable.”
He said he planned to file a motion requesting compensation before Sept. 24, the deadline for a federal court case filed by the shipping line after the crash to limit its liability.
Wessler said the firm was “negligent” and should pay the price for the fatal crash where its massive container ship, Dali, took down the bridge.
“We believe that, at least at this point, what we know so far is that the ship should not have left the port when it did after having lost power multiple times within a day or two before it left,” he said.
The 980-foot Dali, which was carrying nearly 130,000 tons of cargo, lost power around 1:30 am on March 26 shortly after leaving port in Baltimore, destined to sail to Sri Lanka.
Footage prior to the collision shows the ship’s lights flickering off momentarily, then helplessly gliding into one of the 47-year-old bridge’s support columns, bringing down the span in an instant.
The sunken bridge shut down the busy port for 11 days, and it wasn’t until June that the Dali was able to clear the harbor and make sail to Virginia for repairs.
According to federal investigators, the ship had also experienced electrical blackouts about 10 hours before leaving the Port of Baltimore and striking the bridge.
Eight construction workers were on the bridge at the time and pummeled into the water.
Only two survived while the others perished in the darkened waters — including Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, Jose Maynor Lopez Sandoval and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, the three victims now represented by Wessler and his firm. .
“That Monday, my husband calls me and says, ‘Mami, can you make me a tortilla?’ Maria del Carmen Castellon, Luna Gonzalez’s widow, told CBS News.
Both are immigrants from El Salvador.
“He said goodbye with a kiss,” she added. “And when he said goodbye, all I remember is that he took his phone and he put it in the car and I saw his wallpaper was a photo of us. It was the last time I saw him.”
Grace Ocean Private Limited did not respond to a request for comment from the outlet.