Services for 2 crew members killed in Key Bridge collapse set for this weekend

BALTIMORE — Services for two construction workers killed in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse are scheduled this weekend.

A visitation will be held for Alejandro “Alex” Hernandez Fuentes, 35, on Friday night at Iglesia Solo Cristo Salva in Dundalk, according to Loudon Park Funeral Home.

A Mass and vigils for Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, are scheduled for Saturday evening at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Highlandtown in Southeast Baltimore, said its pastor, Father Ako Walker.

Hernandez Fuentes and Castillo Cabrera were killed along with four other members of a crew repairing potholes on the bridge in the early morning hours of March 26. A cargo ship that had just departed the Port of Baltimore reported losing power and crashed into bridge, plunging the span and the workers into the Patapsco River.

The visitation for Hernandez Fuentes is limited to family and friends, said Melissa Moser, whose husband, Matt Moser, is the pastor of the Dundalk Church of the Nazarene, which shares space with Iglesia Solo Cristo Salva.

“The family has asked for privacy,” she said. “They’ve requested no press.”

Moser and Loudon Park declined to provide information on any services beyond the visitation.

Sacred Heart of Jesus will hold the vigil Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for Castillo Cabrera, followed by the Mass and second vigil from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. that night.

Divers found Hernandez Fuentes and Castillo Cabrera in a red pickup truck submerged in the Patapsco the day after the bridge collapse. The body of their coworker, Maynor Suazo Sandoval, 38, was recovered Friday. The bodies of crew members Carlos Hernandez, José Mynor López and Miguel Luna have not been recovered.

All of the men worked for Brawner Builders of Hunt Valley, which has continued to send their paychecks to their families, Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president, said Wednesday. The owner and CEO of Brawner, Jack Murphy, plans to attend both services, Pritzker said.

Murphy did not want to comment for the article, Pritzker said.

The company is helping the families with expenses, providing prepaid cards, groceries and “whatever they need,” and started a GoFundMe as a supplement, he said. As of Wednesday, the online fundraising campaign was almost halfway to its $300,000 goal.

“It’s really heartwarming to see what’s happening here,” Pritzker said of an outpouring of support and donations, including from some of the company’s competitors.

The company, which has about 200 employees, has also provided grief counseling for staff, he said.

Hernandez Fuentes, a father of four, was said to be devoted to his family and church. The Essex resident was from Xalapa, the capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz.

His family wanted to bury him in the U.S., where he had lived for more than 15 years and built a family and a life, a migrant assistance official in Veracruz told The Baltimore Sun. He said the Veracruz government had been working to help his sister obtain a visa to travel to the U.S. for a final farewell.

Hernandez Fuentes’ brother-in-law, Adrian Julio Cervantes, was also on the crew, but was rescued. He was treated at a hospital for chest and leg injuries and released, according to Pritzker. Hernandez Fuentes is also related to crew member Carlos Hernandez, who was killed in the collapse.

Castillo Cabrera, 26, was a native of San Luis in the department of Petén in Guatemala, and had lived in Dundalk. His relatives told Tom Perez, a senior White House advisor and former U.S. and Maryland labor secretary, that they wanted his body returned to Guatemala for burial.

After the recovery Friday of Suazo Sandoval’s body, his brother, Carlos Alexis Suazo Sandoval, said the family planned to bury him in Honduras, where their mother lives. Their hometown is Azacualpa in western Honduras.

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