Catastrophic Miami Bridge collapse kills 4, 9 rescued from rubble

Friday, March 16, 2018

A pedestrian bridge collapsed on Thursday over a busy road located close to the western part of Miami killing at least four and crushing eight vehicles. It also left5 rescue works rushing to free victims from chunks of snapped metal and concrete.

Nine survivors were rushed to hospitals as per the statement of a fire department official.

Vehicles were stopped at a red light when the bridge that weight over 950 tons crashed down about 1.30 p.m. The bridge was designed to connect the city of Sweetwater with the sprawling campus of Florida International University and also to make it easier for students to cross a busy roadway.

Juan Perez who is the director of the Miami-Dade Police Department mentioned on Thursday night that several families would be confronting with a ‘sad outcome’ and that a homicide unit would be investigating the incident.

President Trump responded to the collapse on Thursday evening with prayers.

On Thursday evening the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Robert Sumwalt mentioned at a news conference in Washington that a team was headed immediately to Miami to investigate.

A news release from Florida International University on Sunday had touted the bridge’s ‘first-of-its-kind’ construction process and appreciated the permanent establishment of the main span of the bridge.

It had stretched for 174 feet and weighed 960 tons as per the release.

It was built utilizing what are known as ‘Accelerated Bridge Construction’ methods that are being worked on at the university. When the bridge was installed crews started utilizing an automated process that lifted the span from its supports, turned it 90 degrees across eight lanes and lowered it in place according to the release.

The university said that it was the largest pedestrian bridge moved by the method and it was referred to as a kind of self-propelled modular transportation in the U.S. history.

The main builder of the bridge, Munilla Construction Management (MCM), is a major South Florida construction firm that has been hired to rebuild expressways, update a portion of Miami International Airport and also create a brand new test track for Miami’s Metrorail system.

Many witnesses reported that two workers were present on the bridge when it collapsed a short while prior to 2 p.m.

Carlos Giminez who is the Miami-Dade Mayor mentioned that the bridge had undergone a ‘stress test’. However, it was unclear as to why it might have played a role in the failure that triggered the incident.

Rescue crews with specially trained dogs and listening devices were searching all the wreckage in the hope of detecting survivors. And after two hours after the collapse crew also brought in heavy equipment to check under sections of the shattered span.

The injured were transported to the trauma center at Kendall Regional.

« Back to Page