Horror moment bridge collapsed on Miami highway leaving six dead
UPDATED: Footage has emerged of the deadly seconds a bridge crashed on to a highway, killing six. At least five bodies are still buried in the rubble.
PETRIFYING footage has emerged of the moment a pedestrian bridge collapsed on to a highway at a Miami university, killing six people.
Police said the operation had turned from rescue to recovery after 10 people were hospitalised following the appalling tragedy at Florida International University.
Five bodies are still stuck under the bridge, and that number could rise, Miami-Dade Police Department director Juan Perez told reporters, raising the possibility of criminal charges.
The bridge had not yet opened when it fell on vehicles waiting in traffic on a six-lane highway, flattening cars and crushing those inside.
As Florida authorities work to identify the people who died in Thursday’s catastrophic collapse, state and federal investigators will begin the task of figuring out how and why the five-day-old span failed.
Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Dave Downey said on Thursday night that his crew was using hi-tech listening devices, trained sniffing dogs and search cameras in a race to find anyone still alive in the rubble.
Detective Alvaro Alvaro Zabaleta said police cannot yet release any information about the victims.
The $14.2 million pedestrian bridge was supposed to open in 2019 as a safe way for students to cross the busy road. It linked the community of Sweetwater with the campus of Florida International University.
Aerial footage at the site showed a trained dog running over fallen concrete and sniffing in the crevices for any victims. Police director Perez acknowledged the likelihood of finding more victims under the rubble was slim.
The newly installed campus bridge had been declared an “architectural feat”, and just days before its collapse the engineering team behind it congratulated its workers on “a job well done”.
In a now deleted tweet from March 12, structural testing service BDI said it was “thrilled” to have performed monitoring on the bridge, and congratulated its builders.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Dave Downey said the victims have yet to be identified as authorities were working to remove the debris piece by piece. “We have located victims, but we’re unable to identify them or have any confirmation,” he said.
The bridge collapsed on Thursday afternoon local time, sparking a desperate rescue operation.
Emergency personnel worked frantically to find people in the rubble, with ambulances, fire trucks and police cars attending the scene after the sudden collapse of the 950-ton bridge.
At least eight vehicles were smashed by massive slabs of concrete and steel, with Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez saying “we have a national tragedy on our hands.”
Officials from the Kendall Regional Medical Center said the hospital had received 10 patients. Two of them were in an “extremely critical” condition, while the other eight were stable with injuries such as broken bones, bruises and abrasions.
Medical staff told local ABC affiliate 10 News there was an “intense fight” to keep those pulled from the rubble alive.
Dr Mark McKenney, the hospital’s director of general surgery, said that of the two more serious cases, one arrived in cardiac arrest but was revived. The other had a serious brain injury. It’s believed the patient with a head injury was now in a coma — that person and the cardiac arrest patient were listed as “very critical”.
The ages of the injured ranged from 20 to 50.
A hospital source told 10 News the scene at the hospital was chaotic as patients came in “back to back”.
Officials on the ground described panicked scenes as emergency workers drilled holes into the debris in the search for survivors.
Dr McKenney said it was most patients they had ever seen come in at once. Hospital staff were also waiting in preparation for more victims to be brought in, once they were rescued from the rubble.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Division Chief Paul Estopinan said rescuers were searching through the debris for people who may still be trapped underneath but had no idea know how many they would find.
Miami Herald reporter Monique O. Madan tweeted police had confirmed there were mass casualties. She also shared video of the aftermath of the tragedy, with people being warned to stay away amid fears the rest of the bridge could collapse.
This is the scene at @FIU after bridge collapses. Police moving the media away “just in case the rest falls down.†pic.twitter.com/Vw2wZKraj1
— Monique O. Madan (@MoniqueOMadan) March 15, 2018
Police telling me there are “mass casualties†after bridge at FIU collapses to the ground. @MiamiHerald
— Monique O. Madan (@MoniqueOMadan) March 15, 2018
‘I HEARD A “BOOM” LIKE A BOMB HAD EXPLODED’
The collapse came as it emerged the bridge was supposed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
One witness said there was a worker on top of the bridge when it collapsed just before 2pm on Thursday local time.
“The bridge at FIU just collapsed out of nowhere,” said Gabriella Collazo in a video she shared on Twitter. “Workers are hurt, they’re pulling workers out. There’s definitely people stuck under ... this is crazy, god bless everyone involved.”
A driver who was waiting at the lights told MSNBC: “I was three seconds away from being under the bridge.”
just drove under the new FIU bridge before it collapsed on the road pic.twitter.com/zmHfB9Z143
— isa (@isaaacarrasco) March 15, 2018
Police closed the highway after the smash and local news network WSVN reported that TV helicopters were ordered to back off so rescuers could listen for sounds from survivors.
Medical students also raced to the scene to offer help.
Sweetwater police Detective Juan Llera was in a nearby meeting when the bridge collapsed. “I heard a ‘boom’ like a bomb had exploded,” he said. “At first I thought it was a terrorist attack.”
He said he saw three construction workers who had been injured. One had a head injury and was passing in and out of consciousness, another one had a leg injury and the third was lying on the street unconscious. The detective started performing CPR on him.
“We were able to keep him alive to send him to the hospital,” said Det Llera.
Witness Isabella Carrasco said she felt lucky to be alive. She told CNN she heard “a loud bang” before turning and seeing the bridge on the road.
“The cars were completely crushed,” she said. “You could see some of the cars and just a lot of debris everywhere.”
She said she saw one woman climb out of a vehicle that was “just nicked” and rescue personnel performing CPR on another person in the street. “Other than that, I didn’t see anybody else.”
A bridge in Miami, Florida has collapsed, trapping a number of vehicles beneath it - the bridge was only put in place on Saturday pic.twitter.com/VMQDoQbxUt
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 15, 2018
THE FIU BRIDGE COLLAPSED OH MY GOD pic.twitter.com/JO7jfx5AoN
— Gabriela Collazo (@GabrielaRose12) March 15, 2018
"I was three seconds away from being under the bridge."
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 15, 2018
Witness who drove through the intersection moments before the bridge collapsed says she fears those trapped beneath are "all dead." pic.twitter.com/0zHQAFMIHB
Witness Tiona Page told ABC News in the US the screams coming from the cars were “terrifying.”
“As soon as I looked outside, I saw dust flying everywhere,” she said. “I knew the bridge had collapsed.”
Lynell Collins, who was driving past when he saw the bridge come down, rushed to help rescue people in cars trapped under the bridge.
“After the whole thing broke, I was freaking out,” he told CNN. “I got out of my car and me and a few other people were sprinting over there. We started helping people whose cars were at least half crushed and whoever was easily saved.
“We started helping people whose cars were at least half crushed and whoever was easily saved. But we couldn’t really go under any of the rubble because at the time, the bridge — the other half of the bridge is still kind of leaning upward right now. That was also looking like that would slip and fall.”
He said he saw two trucks that were “completely crushed” and vehicles on the other side of the bridge that he could not reach.
“Somebody we helped said his family was inside and we couldn’t help get them out. I’m sorry. I’m still shaken right now.”
Others described their shock as the bridge came down.
The FIU bridge collapsing... I’m still in shock pic.twitter.com/ZNqO2z5ch6
— Megan (@meganmfernandez) March 15, 2018
Donald Trump thanked the workers on the scene of the tragedy and said his thoughts were with those affected.
Continuing to monitor the heartbreaking bridge collapse at FIU - so tragic. Many brave First Responders rushed in to save lives. Thank you for your courage. Praying this evening for all who are affected.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2018
‘ENGINEERING FEAT’
The Miami Herald reported the collapsed bridge, which connected Florida International University to a student housing area, had only been installed on Saturday and was not yet open.
The bridge was intended to make crossing the busy road safer for students and was expected to open in 2019. It was funded by an $11.4 million grant from the US Department of Transportation.
According to the university, the bridge was an “engineering feat” and designed to withstand even the most severe hurricanes. It said the bridge was supposed to have a durability of 100 years and was constructed entirely from self-cleaning concrete.
It also emerged the bridge had undergone testing just days ago.
In a now deleted tweet from March 12, structural testing service BDI said it was thrilled to have performed structural monitoring on the bridge and congratulated the team on a “job well done”.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the company said it was saddened by the news of the collapse, adding, “our hearts go to the individuals and families affected by the collapse.”
We are deeply saddened to hear that the pedestrian bridge has collapsed at #FIU. Our hearts go out to the individuals and families that have been affected by the collapse.https://t.co/Ky8D80yrVe
— BDI (@BDITest) March 15, 2018
Manilla Construction Management, one of the companies involved in the construction of the bridge, said in a statement posted to social media that it would conduct a full investigation to see what went wrong.
“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 said.
“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 co-operate with investigators on scene in every way.”
FIGG Engineering, the company which designed the bridge, said it would fully co-operate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened, Fox News reported.
It also said that in its “40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before”.
Meanwhile, an engineering professor said he believed the decision to use what the builders called an “innovative installation” for the bridge was a risky one.
Robert Bea, of the University of California, Berkeley, told the Associated Press it was too early to know exactly what happened.
However, he raised questions over builders’ decision to try a “rapid span installation” where the span was prefabricated, then swung into place before its central support tower was built.
The section was put into place across the busy road on Saturday.
Professor Bea said trying something new that crossed a highway was a gamble.
The main part of the 53-metre span was assembled by the side of the road while support towers were built at either end.
Florida Governor Rick Scott tweeted he was on his way to be briefed on the incident and offered Miami-Dade County “every state resource to assist with the response to this tragedy”.
Florida International University tweeted that it was “shocked and saddened about the tragic events unfolding”, advising people to avoid the area.
— FIU (@FIU) March 15, 2018
The university had praised the “first-of-its-kind” bridge as it “swung into place” on Saturday, tweeting: “This project accomplishes our mission beautifully.”
First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge “swings†into place. “FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,†-President Mark B. Rosenberg. https://t.co/x8gPM9A4DG #worldsahead pic.twitter.com/mPEMeh2zmw
— FIU (@FIU) March 10, 2018
— FIU (@FIU) March 15, 2018
The 40-foot wide pedestrian bridge on Florida International University's campus was described as an engineering feat, boasting several superlatives. https://t.co/1nUlHP0xZF pic.twitter.com/t6ILDtST62
— CNN (@CNN) March 15, 2018
— with Andrew Koubaridis and the Associated Press
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