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Dive Brief:
- The families of three of the construction workers who died in the Collapse of the key bridge in Baltimore are suing the owner and manager of the freighter Dali, which struck the stretch in the early hours of March 26, WBAL reported.
- In an event on Tuesday organized by Latino advocacy organization CASA, relatives of Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, José Mynor Lopez and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera said they will seek damages from Grace Ocean Privatethe owner of the Dali and Synergy Marine Group, vessel manager. They are also calling for policy changes to protect construck workers, who are often immigrants like the men who died in the collapse.
- The claim will be presented by washington, D.C.-based Gupta Wessler LLP before the Sept. 24 claim deadline, according to WBAL. He will contest an owner-manager petition filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore that seeks to limit the companies’ liability for the collapse.
Diving knowledge:
The families did not say how much money they are seeking.
In total, six construction workers died when the bridge collapsed. In addition to Gonzalez, Lopez and Cabrera, Alexandre Hernández Fuentes, Maynor Yasir Suazo Sandoval and Carlos Daniel Hernández Estrella died.
Worked by Brawner Builders, based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, they they were filling potholes in the bridge’s roadway when the ship hit one of its pylons, causing it to collapse. Another worker fell into the Patapsco River, but was rescued by authorities.
“No financial loss can be compared to the loss of human life… no legal loophole should be able to erase the value of a human life,” Gustavo Torres, CASA’s executive director, said at the event .
