Bridge crushes cars ‘like sardine cans’
A HASTILY constructed bridge plunged on to a busy freeway in Miami yesterday, killing several people as it landed on eight cars below, “crushing them like sardine cans”.
The six-day-old, 53m-long, pedestrian walkway, which opened last Saturday outside Florida International University, was reportedly undergoing a stress test when it collapsed at 1.30pm local time. Nine people were taken to hospital, two with critical injuries, while four were killed, according to Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Dave Downey.
The 950-tonne bridge was erected in just six hours using a technique described as Accelerated Bridge Construction, according to the university.
Florida congressman Carlos Curbelo said he had been told a stress test was under way when the bridge collapsed.
Authorities said construction workers atop the bridge were among the casualties.
“There was some testing taking place, and it is a very good question that must be answered – why more pre- cautions weren’t taken before conducting this type of stress test if indeed that was the case,” Mr Curbelo said.
Witnesses said the cars were stopped at a traffic light when the bridge collapsed on top of them.
“We’re working our way into the pile trying to create holes that we can actually physically see,” Miami-Dade Fire Department Division Chief Paul Estopian said.
“Our teams are in search and rescue mode, they are still searching the debris.”
Restaurant owner Lianet Sado, whose business is nearby, described a devastating scene as she told how she and her staff tried to help people who were trapped in their cars.
“There was this young boy in the back of the car with a pool of blood and just basically begging for someone to help him,” she said.
“That is basically something that I am not going to be able to get out of my head because I am a mother of a kid and I just saw that boy with his hand out the window, just crying for help.
“The police officers arrived and they told me that I couldn’t be under the bridge to help this person.”
A fire and rescue spokesman said more than 100 firefighters, search and rescue teams and live search dogs were combing the wreckage of the bridge for “viable victims”.
The bridge was intended to provide a walkway over the busy street where an 18-yearold female FIU student from San Diego was killed while trying to cross last August, according to media reports.
Students at FIU are on their spring break, which runs from March 12 to today. The $A18.3 million bridge was built to last 100 years, the university said.