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Version 6 Version 7
Miami Bridge Collapses; Multiple Fatalities Feared Miami Bridge Collapses; at Least 4 Are Dead
(about 2 hours later)
MIAMI — A newly installed pedestrian crossway over a busy Miami thoroughfare at the Florida International University campus collapsed on Thursday afternoon, crushing cars and killing several people, local officials said. MIAMI — The graceful pedestrian bridge was swung into place on Saturday. Heralded as a triumph of “accelerated construction,” the bridge would allow pedestrians to safely cross eight lanes of traffic separating the campus of Florida International University from the small city where many of the students lived.
In what one witness called a chaotic scene, rescue workers pored over the rubble, trying to free trapped drivers. Five days later, around midday Thursday, the bridge collapsed in a pile of 950 tons of metal, concrete and dust, before ever opening to pedestrians. At least four people were killed, according to Miami Fire Chief Dave Downey. Some reports put the number of dead at six to 10.
One witness, Lynell R. Collins, was about to make a turn onto the road when the bridge fell. He and other drivers rushed to help people, but quickly realized that they could only save those in cars that were half crushed. Many of the cars were caught under the bridge when a stoplight turned red at a nearby intersection. Eight cars could be seen poking out from the rubble, in a scene that resembled the aftermath of an earthquake.
“I heard what sounded to me like a sonic boom from an aircraft which shook the ground below,” said Kurt Baker, a student at the university who had just exited the Florida Turnpike.
“There was a large plume of smoke,” said Sgt. Adrian Mesa of the Sweetwater Police Department. “And then you could see the south end of the bridge was tilted over.”
Drivers leapt from their cars to help pull people free, but quickly realized they could only save the people in cars that were half crushed, said Lynell R. Collins, who had been about to turn onto the street in his pickup. The others were gone.
“Someone that had been helped out of his car ran out shouting that he still had people in his car, that they couldn’t get out of the car,” Mr. Collins said. “One of the ladies was screaming like crazy.”“Someone that had been helped out of his car ran out shouting that he still had people in his car, that they couldn’t get out of the car,” Mr. Collins said. “One of the ladies was screaming like crazy.”
Doctors in white coats streamed out of a nearby ambulatory care center and the university’s medical school, while one driver, dressed in pink hospital scrubs, crawled out of her mangled car. At least nine people were pulled from the rubble, Chief Downey said.
At a news conference, local officials said Thursday afternoon that eight people had been transported to a hospital and that eight vehicles had been trapped under the bridge. Some of the vehicles were stopped at a red light at the time the bridge came down. Ten trauma patients were taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center, two of them in critical condition, hospital officials said at a news conference.
“This pedestrian bridge weighs several hundred tons, and it is still on the roadway,” Lt. Alejandro Camacho, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol, said. “I don’t know what is underneath.” Hours after the collapse, rescue workers were seen removing a stretcher with one body on it, and it seemed likely that there would be others.
Officials did not confirm the number of dead during a news conference, but Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, told local television affiliates in Miami that six to 10 people may have died in the accident. Mr. Nelson cited no one specifically, but said he had spoken to several local officials. Rescue workers, joined by construction workers, desperately dug through the rubble looking and listening for signs of life, using listening devices, fiber optics and dogs. Officials said they expected the search to continue through the night, working carefully because part of the structure was still unsafe.
“I can tell you that having talked shortly after the collapse to the university president, to the mayor, to the chief of police,” Senator Nelson said, “they are fearing the worst, that there are going to be maybe as many as six deaths, and another number that I heard, it could be upwards of 10.” Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said the police homicide bureau would take the lead in investigating as soon as rescue operations ended. He said the state attorney was also “on standby and waiting to come in and work this case with us.”
Lieutenant Camacho confirmed that multiple fatalities were expected. “There are going to be several,” he said, “based on the amount of vehicles that are underneath.” The walkway had a span of about 174 feet over Southwest Eighth Street, a major thoroughfare that crosses the county and separates the F.I.U. campus in western Miami-Dade County with the city of Sweetwater. The walkway was built adjacent to the street using a method called accelerated bridge construction. It was then driven into its perpendicular position across the road by a rig in about six hours on Saturday, while students from the university’s engineering and architecture programs watched.
Speaking at the news conference, Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said: “We’re not confirming any deaths. What Senator Nelson says, I cannot answer to.” On the F.I.U. website, a time-lapse video shows the intricate raising of the bridge before dawn on Saturday to the accompaniment of triumphant music, a sign of the university’s pride in the construction.
As soon as the search and rescue operation was over, Mr. Perez said, the police homicide bureau would take the lead in investigating. He said the state attorney was also “on standby and waiting to come in and work this case with us.” At the time, Mark B. Rosenberg, president of the university, hailed it as a symbol of the bond between the university and the surrounding community.
Accelerated construction is a well-regarded method of erecting bridges that avoids the long months of street closings when the structure is built over a road or river. Instead, parts of the bridge are prefabricated away from the site. In some cases, including with the F.I.U. bridge, the entire span is built before being lowered into place on its supports. A national database of accelerated bridge construction projects, which is maintained by Florida International University, lists more than 100 such projects across the United States.
The National Transportation Safety Board rushed investigators to the scene on Thursday, for an investigation that is likely to focus on the design and construction of the bridge, as well as the methods used to put it in place.
Bridges made with the accelerated techniques are not more at risk for collapse than others, but moving them into place causes different stresses than what the bridge would normally have to withstand, said Andy Herrmann, a former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Funding for the $14.2 million bridge, connecting plazas and walkways was part of a $19.4 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant from the Department of Transportation.
Thursday’s accident was not the first time the company building the bridge, Munilla Construction Management, known as MCM, has faced trouble with a project.
A lawsuit filed this month accused the company of shoddy construction work on a temporary bridge it built at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. An agent with the Transportation Security Administration, Jose Perez, fell walking across the bridge and broke several bones, said his lawyer, Tesha Allison.
The company has not responded to the suit.
In 2016, a judge ordered construction on a bridge in Broward County to stop until Munilla could prove that it was not causing damage to a historic building.
A lawyer for the family-owned business, Daniel Munilla, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Calls to the company were met with an announcement in which someone read the statement the company had posted on Facebook.
“MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist,” the statement said in part.
MCM’s partner, FIGG Bridge Engineers, put out a statement of condolence, adding, “In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before.” Both said they would cooperate with any investigation.
Passers-by were stunned by the collapse.
Jonathan Muñoz, 21, a junior premedical major, said he had just driven under the pedestrian bridge and entered a nearby parking garage when he heard a loud bang. He thought he had hit something as he looked for a parking spot, so he pulled over and checked his car.Jonathan Muñoz, 21, a junior premedical major, said he had just driven under the pedestrian bridge and entered a nearby parking garage when he heard a loud bang. He thought he had hit something as he looked for a parking spot, so he pulled over and checked his car.
A few minutes later, he got a frantic call from his girlfriend, who had been with him in the car moments earlier. She was near tears.A few minutes later, he got a frantic call from his girlfriend, who had been with him in the car moments earlier. She was near tears.
“Jonathan, the bridge collapsed,” she said. He ran over and saw a construction worker with blood coming out of his neck.“Jonathan, the bridge collapsed,” she said. He ran over and saw a construction worker with blood coming out of his neck.
“When we got there, cars were honking nonstop,” he said. “It was a scene in a movie.”“When we got there, cars were honking nonstop,” he said. “It was a scene in a movie.”
He said the cars must have been stopped at a red light, because so many cars were stuck: “It was one car after another.”He said the cars must have been stopped at a red light, because so many cars were stuck: “It was one car after another.”
Another student, Kurt Baker, had just exited the highway. “I heard what sounded to me like a sonic boom from an aircraft which shook the ground below,” said Mr. Baker, a junior studying mechanical engineering. Mr. Collins, the driver of the pickup, said he stayed to help for about 10 or 15 minutes until the police came and ushered people out.
The bridge had a span of about 174 feet over Southwest Eighth Street, a major thoroughfare that crosses the county, connecting the F.I.U. campus in western Miami-Dade County with the city of Sweetwater. “It’s one thing to see on the news like I always have, and to be actually in the situation,” he said. “I began to itch and shake.”
It had been assembled off-site and moved to the location on Saturday. The bridge was still under construction and was not expected to open to the public until the end of the year, a university official said. Sergeant Mesa, who arrived minutes after the collapse, said he found construction workers injured, both above the crumpled bridge and at street level. “Most of them were completely dazed,” he said. “Everyone was nervous.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said that it would investigate the collapse. Munilla Construction Management, which was building the bridge, promised in a statement that it would investigate what went wrong and would cooperate with any other inquiry. The engineering firm for the project, FIGG Bridge Engineers, said that it would also cooperate with investigators. A driver trapped in a car half-buried under the bridge was rescued by bystanders using a two-by-four, Sergeant Mesa said.
“Barring somebody using it that wasn’t supposed to be there, it’s either an engineering problem or it’s a construction problem, but that’s why you bring in the professionals,” Mr. Nelson told CBS Miami, noting that the deaths had come tragically soon after 17 people were shot at a high school in Parkland. President Trump, on Twitter, offered his prayers for those affected and said his administration was “continuing to monitor the heartbreaking bridge collapse.”
He said he had spoken to the university president, Mark B. Rosenberg, soon after the collapse, and “you can imagine the near shock that he was almost in.” Shortly before 5 p.m., firefighters could be seen moving a stretcher on wheels into position near one of the crushed cars. They did not appear to be in a great hurry, indicating that the victim in question had died. The process was likely to be repeated as the evening wore on.
The main span of the bridge was lifted from its temporary supports, rotated 90 degrees across several lanes of traffic and lowered into position on Saturday, according to The FIU News. Other firefighters were sawing large planks of wood, suggesting that they intended to prop up the collapsed bridge while they extricated victims.
The distinctive-looking cable bridge was intended to address safety concerns for F.I.U. students who walk to the campus from suburban Sweetwater, where thousands of them live. A student, Alexis Dale, was hit and killed by a vehicle in August while crossing the thoroughfare at a nearby intersection, according to The Miami Herald. By late afternoon, a large crane was brought to the site on the west side of the broken bridge.
The $14.2 million bridge, including surrounding plazas, was federally funded and part of an effort to make the area more attractive, The Herald reported. Another crane that had been used in its construction was taken away on Thursday morning, Luis Bottari, a campus mail carrier, said as he watched the recovery efforts from the fourth-floor vantage point of a nearby parking structure.