Ten feared dead after new bridge collapses on Miami road
UP to ten people were killed yesterday when a newly installed pedestrian bridge collapsed on to a Miami highway.
At least six others were injured as the 860,000-kilo bridge crushed eight cars on the seven-lane route on a college campus.
TV station CBS Miami said between six and ten people had been killed.
Emergency rescue workers crawled through the rubble of the 53-metre-long ‘instant bridge’, which was built to provide pedestrian access linking Florida International University with a student housing area. It was only finished on Saturday.
Two workers were replacing something on the side of the bridge when it collapsed, according to CBS Miami.
Lionel Collins said he was ‘pretty shaken’ after rescuing several people from their cars. ‘After the whole thing broke, I was freaking out,’ he told CNN.
‘I got out of my car and me and a few other people were sprinting over there.
‘We started helping people whose cars were at least half crushed and whoever was easily saved.
‘But we couldn’t really go under any of the rubble because at the time, the bridge – the other half of the bridge – is still kind of leaning upward right now.’
A witness added: ‘One girl, her car was literally squished by the bridge from the back. So she was able to get out. We were trying to help her. It was very traumatising.’
The $14million bridge and its support towers took months to construct, according to the Miami Herald. The main body of the span was assembled before the support towers were built. Early on Saturday, the bridge was lifted by special gantry cranes and lowered into place, and the road underneath it was reopened early on Monday.