‘Mi muchachito’: Relatives of Key Bridge worker say goodbye in Honduras

Seven weeks after Maynor Suazo Sandoval died when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, his family in Honduras met his body at the San Pedro Sula airport and prepared to bury him.

A commercial flight bearing the remains of the 38-year-old worker arrived at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Ramón Villeda Morales Airport. At the Amor Eterno funeral home in San Pedro Sula, his family grieved openly over the box, labeled with his name and flight number, that held his coffin.

His family then took Suazo Sandoval’s body to his hometown of Azacualpa in Santa Bárbara — a town in an agricultural region where his brother, Martín, said he was beloved for his generosity — for a Wednesday burial. The youngest of eight siblings, Suazo Sandoval financially supported a local soccer league in Azacualpa, motivated by his belief that the sport could rescue young people from the wrong path.

He immigrated about 18 years ago to the United States, followed later by another brother, Carlos, and a sister, Norma. He built a life in Owings Mills, where he married and raised four children.

Early on March 26, Suazo Sandoval was on the Key Bridge repairing potholes when the container ship Dali struck one of the bridge’s support columns, sending the span plunging into the Patapsco River. Six construction workers died, while a seventh member of the crew survived the fall.

Divers retrieved Suazo Sandoval’s body in early April and his family held services in Baltimore County before repatriating his body Tuesday to Honduras for burial. Also on Tuesday, teams recovered the body of José Mynor López, the last worker to be found.

In Azacualpa, the Suazo Sandoval family held a wake at Fountain of Life Church in the center of town. His mother, Rosa Emerita Sandoval Paz, said she was glad to be able to bury her son in his hometown. She lost her husband, the family patriarch, less than a year ago.

“I am content to be able to have my little boy and bury him, it’s what I most wanted,” she said in Spanish, calling her son “mi muchachito.”

While family and friends gathered in Honduras to honor and bury Suazo Sandoval, brother Carlos and sister Norma stayed behind in Maryland. They attended a Mass on Saturday at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Southeast Baltimore’s Highlandtown neighborhood that marked 40 days since the bridge collapse.

Father Ako Walker asked attendees for six minutes of silence, one for each of the workers who died. Walker, the pastor of one of Baltimore’s largest Spanish-speaking congregations, reflected on the spiritual meaning of the word “permanecer” — to stay or remain — during his homily. After 40 days of understandable grief and of asking “why,” it was time to trust in God and the peace that faith can provide, Walker said.

Carlos Suazo Sandoval and his sister, Norma, sat together in a pew near the front of the church wearing T-shirts bearing a photo of their brother’s face, his name and the words “Mi Heroe.”

When Walker asked Carlos if he wanted to tell people about his brother, he waved his hand, answering “Después,” or later.

After the Mass, a woman sitting behind the family approached the siblings and embraced them. “I’m Honduran, too,” she told them in Spanish.

La Prensa reporters Eleana Enamorado and Kevin Mercado contributed to this article from Honduras. This coverage is part of an ongoing partnership between The Baltimore Sun and La Prensa.