Immigrants killed in Baltimore bridge collapse died doing job 'others do not want to do'
economictimes.indiatimes.com
The six victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse were all immigrants from Mexico and Central America, doing the kind of grueling work that many immigrants take on, when a container ship crashed into a support pillar at 1:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday (0530 GMT) and sent them plunging into the icy Patapsco River.
Divers pulled the bodies of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and Dorlian Castillo from a red pickup truck 25 feet underwater the following day.
Four are missing and presumed dead: Maynor Suazo from Honduras; Jose Lopez from Guatemala; Miguel Luna from El Salvador; and another whose name has not been released. Another two workers were rescued.
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The news rippled quickly through Baltimore's Hispanic community, which has nearly doubled in size in recent years, transforming the modest rowhouse neighborhoods near the sprawling port complex. Churches held vigils for the missing workers, and advocacy groups quickly raised $98,000 for the victims' families.
Some said they were not surprised that all of the victims were immigrants, even though they account for less than 10% of the population in Maryland's largest city.
«One of the reasons Latinos were involved in this accident is because Latinos do the work that others do not want to do. We have to do it, because we come here for a better life. We do not come to invade the country,» said Lucia Islas, president of Comité Latino de Baltimore, a nonprofit group.
Hispanic workers are more likely than other
