Several die as Miami bridge collapses
174-foot pedestrian span was put in place at university on Saturday
MIAMI – A newly installed 950-ton pedestrian bridge at Florida International University collapsed Thursday, crushing vehicles on a busy highway below and killing several people, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
“There are several fatalities,” Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Alex Camacho told reporters.
Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp said teams were in an “urgent search and rescue mode” and had mobilized search dogs and heavy cranes. Kemp said eight cars traveling on the seven-lane highway were trapped under tons of rubble and that eight victims had been taken to the hospital.
One girl seated in the front of a car escaped injury when a slab of the bridge crushed the rear half of the vehicle, the Miami Herald reported.
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators to the site.
Leslie Vazquez was driving home along Eighth Street – also known as U.S. Highway 41 – when she realized something felt strange.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, the bridge isn’t there,’ ” said Vazquez, 43, who lives nearby. She pulled over and saw victims crawling out of the rubble. Some were bloodied; all were frantic. “They were screaming,” she said.
Vazquez said the bridge was built to ensure the safety of FIU students who have to cross fast-moving traffic along the wide street.
“I was just telling my husband how good this is, how they’re not running the risk of getting hit,” she said. “This is so sad.”
The main part of the $14.2 million structure, which was only installed Saturday, spanned 174 feet over the highway, linking the university’s campus to the city of Sweetwater. It was scheduled to open in early 2019.
FIU spokeswoman Maydel Santana-Bravo said the university community was “shocked and saddened about the tragic events.” The school is currently on spring break.
MCM Construction, the Miami-based company that built the bridge, issued a statement saying its “thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy.”
It said the bridge was under construction and “experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life.”
MCM pledged to cooperate fully with investigators to determine what went wrong.
In a news release Saturday about the bridge’s installation, the university reported workers lifted the main span of the bridge from temporary supports, rotated it 90 degrees across the highway and lowered into its permanent position.
The project was built using Accelerated Bridge Construction methods, which are being advanced at FIU’s Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center, the news release said. That method of construction aims to reduce potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians, and to minimize traffic interruptions.