At least 6 dead in the collapse of a bridge in Miami
A 950-ton pedestrian bridge has collapsed around two in the afternoon (local time) this Thursday in Miami and has fallen on a six-lane highway leaving eight vehicles trapped. After hours of work day and night in the rubble, this Friday at dawn the Miami-Dade police has confirmed that at least six people have died -one in the hospital- and warned that "there is the sad possibility that under concrete there are still more cars. "
At least nine people were taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Dave Downey confirmed at a news conference. Under the rubble of the bridge of 950 tons and 50 meters long, eight cars were trapped. Shortly after the incident, numerous rescue teams arrived on the scene, still working to rescue the victims who were trapped.
Meanwhile, state and federal investigators worked to determine how and why the structure collapsed just five days after its placement. "This has gone from being a rescue operation to a recovery operation," said Miami-Dade County Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta. The emergency teams used high-tech listening devices, dogs and search cameras in a fight against the clock to find survivors in the rubble. "We have to withdraw part of this piece by piece. It is very unstable, "said County Fire Chief Dave Downey, hours earlier.
The overpass, of large dimensions, has collapsed on the Tamiami Trail (Calle Ocho). Its collapse was sudden and the traffic on that point of the avenue was stopped with the traffic light in red, reason why the heavy infrastructure of concrete came on top of cars that were not in movement.
The $ 14.2 million pedestrian bridge was due to open in 2019 as a safe alternative for students to cross a busy highway between the university campus and the community of Sweetwater, where many reside.
Florida Governor Rick Scott visited the scene of the incident with other authorities Thursday night. The investigation will get to the bottom of "why this happened and what happened," Governor Scott added, adding that if someone did something wrong, "we will hold him accountable."
The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Robert Sumwalt III, said a team of specialists was on their way to Miami on Thursday night to begin the investigation of what happened on Friday morning.
The bridge of 950 tons and almost 200 feet long was assembled on the side of the highway and was installed on Saturday in the midst of great fanfares. The bridge project, which had not yet been opened to the public, was started in the spring of 2017. It had phases to finish and it was foreseen that the work would be completed by 2019. The central section, which has collapsed, was 53 meters and the general construction budget was 14.2 million dollars. This section of the infrastructure was not built on site but elsewhere and was moved on Saturday for installation.
