Baltimore fundraising for Key Bridge victims has raised $800,000

A fund managed by immigrant affairs officials in Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has raised more than $800,000 for the victims’ families and will remain open until the end of August, Mayor Brandon Scott announced Friday.

The city fund, one of several collecting donations for the survivors and victims of the Key Bridge disaster, was originally scheduled to close Friday, but the mayor’s office said it planned to keep it open due to continued support.

To date, the fund, overseen by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, has received donations from more than 5,500 individuals and organizations totaling $858,164.

“This outpouring of support has shown us that individuals, both in Baltimore and around the world, care about our region and the people who call this region home,” the mayor’s office said in the statement.

In the early morning of March 26, a 112,000-ton freighter, the Dali, plowed into the Key Bridge, causing the 47-year-old structure to fall into the Patapsco River within seconds and sending six construction workers to their deaths. Seven construction workers were patching holes in the bridge during the night shift when the ship collided with one of the bridge’s support columns, destroying the 2.6-mile-long structure. One member of the construction crew survived.

An early April update on the agency’s immigrant affairs fund reported nearly $500,000 in donations.

The last of the six victims’ bodies was found on May 7 and identified as 37-year-old José Mynor López.

The bodies of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, were recovered on March 27. Mayor Suazo Sandoval’s body was recovered on April 5. The body of 24-year-old Carlos Daniel Hernández was found on April 16. The body of Miguel Luna, 49, was recovered on May 2.

All were workers at the Baltimore County construction company Brawner Builders, and all had immigrated to the United States from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador or Mexico.

Scott thanked those who donated to the emergency relief fund on Friday.

“I have given my word that we will continue to do everything in our power to support the survivors and the families of the victims during this unthinkable tragedy,” Scott said in a statement. “As Baltimore does time and time again, we are committed to coming together and wrapping our arms around our neighbors in times of need.”

Contributions to the fund are intended to help meet the immediate needs of families affected by the bridge collapse, including covering rent, food and other costs.

“Donations to the Key Bridge Emergency Response Fund have helped us support families during a time of tremendous change and unrest,” said Catalina Rodriguez Lima, director of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “Your contributions have opened doors to ensure families can prioritize grieving and remembering their loved one and connect with family members both inside and outside Baltimore City.”

After a nearly two-month salvage operation in the Patapsco River, the Dali was freed from the wreckage of the Key Bridge on May 20 and escorted to a dock in the Port of Baltimore.

Crew members on the Dali sent out a distress signal within minutes of the collapse, giving traffic police enough time to halt traffic across the bridge just seconds before the crash. However, members of the construction crew never escaped.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the National Transit Safety Board are each conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Adam Willis covers city government for The Banner, including the impact of the large COVID-19 stimulus package Baltimore received from the federal government.