Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Deadly collapse
MIAMI — A pedestrian bridge that was under construction collapsed onto a busy Miami highway Thursday, crushing at least eight vehicles under slabs of concrete and steel, and killing at least four people, authorities said.
Search-and-rescue crews drilled holes into the debris and used dogs to look for survivors. They had to work carefully because part of the structure was unsafe. At least nine people were taken to hospitals.
The 950- ton bridge had been assembled by the side of the highway and moved into place Saturday to great fanfare. The span stretched almost 200 feet to connect Florida International University with the city of Sweetwater. The bridge was expected to open to foot traffic next year.
“We have a national tragedy on our hands,” Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said.
Jacob Miller, a senior at the university, was visiting a friend in a dorm when he heard sirens and horns honking. He went to a balcony and could see rubble coming down.
“I saw there were multiple cars crushed under the bridge. It was just terrible. I saw some people stopping their cars, trying to get out, trying to assess the situation to see if there is anything they could do to help,” he said.
At least one woman, Katrina Collazo, escaped from a half-crushed car, pulled out unscathed by rescuers.
“Thank God … my daughter is alive,” said her mother, Ada Collazo, in Spanish, after rushing to the scene. “I thought my granddaughter was in the car, but she wasn’t. She’s in school.”
Fire Chief Dave Downey said at a news briefing Thursday evening that four deceased people had been found at the scene by first responders. He also said nine victims were removed “early on” and taken to hospitals, but he did not elaborate on their conditions.
He said the search for survivors was ongoing late Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Kendall Regional Medical Center said it received 10 injured people. Of those, two were in “extremely critical” condition and the others were stable with injuries such as broken bones, bruises and abrasions, said Dr. Mark McKenney, the hospital’s director of general surgery.
The reason for the discrepancy in the injured count was not immediately clear.
Gov. Rick Scott spoke to reporters in the evening, saying “everybody is working hard to make sure we rescue anyone who can be rescued.” The Florida governor added that an investigation will get to the bottom of “why this happened and what happened.” He said if anyone has done anything wrong, “we will hold them accountable.”
President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that he was monitoring the “heartbreaking bridge collapse,” calling it “so tragic” and praising the bravery of first responders who “rushed in to save lives.”
The National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators to the scene. Miami-Dade Police Chief Juan Perez said his department’s homicide team would take over the investigation after rescue efforts are complete.
An accelerated construction method on the bridge was supposed to reduce risks to workers and pedestrians, and minimize traffic disruption, the university said.
Renderings of the project showed a tall, off-center tower with cables attached to the walkway to support it. When the bridge collapsed, the main tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what the builders were using as temporary supports.
Robert Bea, a professor of engineering and construction management at the University of California, Berkeley, said it was too early to know exactly what happened, but the decision to use what the bridge builders called an “innovative installation” was risky, especially because the bridge spanned a heavily traveled thoroughfare.
The main companies behind the $14.2 million construction project have faced questions about their past work, and one was fined in 2012 when a 90-ton section of a bridge collapsed in Virginia.
Munilla Construction Management, the Miamibased construction management firm that won the bridge contract, took its website down Thursday. But an archived version of the site featured a news release touting the project with FIGG Bridge Engineers, a firm based in Tallahassee, Fla.
The firm said on Twitter that it was “a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way.”
FIGG said in a statement, “In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before.”
But FIGG was fined in 2012 after a 90-ton section of a bridge it was building in Virginia crashed onto railroad tracks below, causing minor injuries to several workers. The citation from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry said FIGG did not properly inspect a girder and had not obtained written consent from its manufacturer before modifying it, according to an article in The Virginian-Pilot.
A review of Occupational Safety Health Administration records shows that Munilla Construction Management has been fined for 11 safety violations in the past five years.
The fines, totaling more than $ 50,000, arose from complaints about unsafe trenches, cement dust and other problems at its Florida work sites.