BALTIMORE — Friends and family members of Miguel Luna, a construction worker who perished in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse last month, gathered Sunday in Baltimore for a charity soccer tournament to benefit his family.
Recovery crews are still searching for Luna, a beloved father and grandfather, amid the wreckage in the Patapsco River, as well as one of his crewmates, José Mynor López.
In a video from the soccer tournament shared on Facebook, Luna’s wife, Carmen, said the family continues to pray that his body is found.
“My wish as his wife is please — the governor promised us he would not rest until they find these two bodies,” she said in Spanish. “And we keep praying.”
“Thank you, truly thank you, for everything — for all of the support that we’ve had,” she said.
During the tournament, Carmen Luna and other family members grilled steaks for lines of customers from her bright pink food truck, Pupuseria Y Antojitos Carmencita Luna.
Marvin Luna, 28 and Miguel Luna’s son, played in the tournament, held in the Brooklyn neighborhood. He and his father used to play soccer together on a team called California FC.
“It’s not how we wanted to come together, but sometimes we have to,” said tournament organizer Fermin Acenteno in a video he shared on Facebook, holding an envelope with the funds collected.
“I want to thank all of the people who came, who came and bought food, the teams who came to play, and the friends that gave donations,” he said. “All the people who gave their $50, their $20, their $100, it’s all here.”
Recovery crews have found the bodies of four of the immigrant workers who were killed when the Key Bridge gave way, struck by a massive cargo ship in the middle of the night. In recent weeks, their families have held memorial services locally.
Miguel Luna, a 49-year-old welder on the Brawner Builders crew that was filling potholes on the Key Bridge that fateful night, was born in California, El Salvador, and played soccer on a professional team in the country. He emigrated to the United States, and had called Maryland home for over 19 years, according to CASA, a national nonprofit supporting immigrants, of which Luna was a member. He had three children, according to CASA.
Luna’s children, grandchildren, sister and the rest of his community are praying that he is found, Carmen Luna told onlookers at Sunday’s tournament. Through the pain, Luna said she has held on to her faith in God.
“I say to the Lord, it is your will, and not mine. Believe me, it hurts. Because we met in 2009 in this country,” Carmen Luna said in Spanish, on the video. “God brought us together. And the same God who gave him to me took him away to heaven.”
Acenteno said on the video that he decided to host the tournament because he knew Carmen and Miguel, and he knew they were “luchadores” or “fighters.” As hardworking immigrants, he said, they set an example for the entire community.
Miguel kept working on the construction crew, atop bridges and on busy highways, despite its dangers, he said, sacrificing for his family.
“I always told Miguel when I saw him, I asked him if he had left that job. He knew how dangerous it was,” Acenteno said.
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(Baltimore Sun reporters Dillon Mullan and Cassidy Jensen, and photographer Ken Lam, contributed to this article.)
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