A 950-Ton 'Instant Bridge' Collapsed In Miami-At Least Six Killed With Several Cars Trapped Underneath
- At least six killed when a pedestrian bridge linking Florida International University campus with Sweetwater collapsed.
- Ten people rescued from the collapse were taken to the hospital, one among them died at the hospital.
- At least eight cars are trapped under the bridge. Police said they don't expect to find more survivors.
- The bridge, which was erected just in six hours on Saturday, was being stress tested when it collapsed.
A pedestrian bridge, which was under construction, at Florida International University in Miami, Florida collapsed Thursday afternoon leaving at least six people killed with a number of cars trapped underneath.
The Miami Herald reported Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Dave Downey told six people had died-including a student at FIU. Downey added none of the deceased had been identified.
The 950-ton structure had just been erected Saturday overnight in just six hours. It was built using an accelerated construction process and was supposed to withstand a Category-five hurricane.
Munilla Construction Management, the company which was hired to build the bridge, said in a statement issued on Twitter,
Our family’s thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life.
It continued,
MCM is 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.
— Munilla Construction (@WeAreMCM) March 15, 2018
A student Damany Reed told People
I was sitting in my apartment with my girlfriend watching Netflix, and suddenly we heard a series of booms. It wasn’t just one. A lot of people sprung into action
The bridge was supposed to open to public pedestrians and cyclists in 2019.