What we know about the 6 workers killed in Baltimore bridge collapse

Latino Racial Justice Circle, a faith-based organization in the Baltimore area, set up a GoFundMe to raise money for the families of the six missing workers. The online campaign had brought in more than $98,000 in donations when the organizers closed the fundraiser.

“We know that the 6 victims were all Latino immigrants who were supporting partners and children in the Southeast Baltimore and Dundalk communities. As they move forward with their shock and grief, the families will need support with basic needs, such as rent, groceries, and utilities,” the fundraiser page said.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders said in a Wednesday interview at the company’s Hunt Valley headquarters that colleagues were taking the news hard. “We’re doing everything we can to assist the families, but you can’t bring somebody back when they’re gone,” Pritzker said.

Many people don’t realize how dangerous road construction can be for workers, he said. Between 2003 and 2020, more than 2,200 workers died at road construction sites, an average of 123 per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Brawner takes precautions to protect its workers from traffic and other hazards, Pritzker said, but the collapse was unexpected and catastrophic. “Who could ever have foreseen something like that happening?” he said.

Bobby Knutson Jr., a construction worker from Northern Virginia who worked at Brawner for about five years, said he and his crewmates sometimes worried about cars crossing the bridge while they were working, or falling from the span. But the massive container ships leaving the Port of Baltimore and traveling under the bridge were mostly exciting to behold, he said.

“The last thing we ever thought about was a boat hitting the bridge. It just blows my mind,” Knutson said.

Knutson said he knew several of the crew members who were on the bridge when it fell, including Luna and Alejandro “Alex” Hernandez, who was originally from Mexico, and rose through the ranks at Brawner to become a foreman.

“When I had met him, he was a laborer — didn’t have a company truck,” Knutson said. “And then by the time I left, he had the company truck and his own crew, which I thought was really cool.”

Hernandez was “attached at the hip” with his brother-in-law, Julio, who Knutson believes was rescued from the collapse and sent to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. He was released later in the day Tuesday.

Hernandez was a “fireball,” Knutson said. He was short in stature, but his big personality made it feel like he could be 7 feet tall, Knutson said.

“He was the nicest guy ever, but you didn’t want to get on his bad side, because he took no crap from anybody,” Knutson said.

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