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Updated: 11am
THE DEATH TOLL from the collapse of a pedestrian bridge has risen to at least six, Miami police confirmed, as crews searched under the huge concrete slabs which fell onto a busy highway.
The operation has shifted from rescue to body recovery, with engineers fearing the support structures at either end of the bridge could also come down, Miami-Dade police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta told reporters.
“The entire bridge is in jeopardy,” he said.
The walkway, which connects Florida International University to a student housing area, went up less than a week ago but was not yet operational.
Ten people were taken to hospital, Zabaleta said, with emergency crews working all through the night at the scene.
Video footage on CNN shows the concrete structure suddenly crashing onto the road below.
At least eight cars were trapped when the bridge suddenly gave way on Thursday, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Division Chief Paul Estopinan said earlier.
Police detective Juan Carlos Llera said when the bridge came down, it “sounded like an explosion. A huge bang”.
“It looks like a disaster area. It looks literally like a bomb went off,” Llera told AFP.
Loose cables
The bridge was suspended from cables which had come loose and while they were being tightened, the whole thing collapsed, Florida Senator Marco Rubio wrote on Twitter.
The bridge had only been installed on Saturday, ahead of its planned opening in 2019.
Isabella Carrasco, who arrived at the scene shortly afterwards, told CNN some cars were completely crushed and that there was “a lot of debris everywhere”.
She saw one woman get out of a car that was “just nicked” and rescue personnel performing life-saving CPR on another person in the road.
Another shaken driver, Lynnell Collins, told CNN he was about to make a right turn when “the whole thing really just came down”.
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.
He said he saw two trucks that were completely crushed.
Quickly erected
The university had only recently been celebrating the construction of the bridge across a busy and dangerous section of highway that students said had been the scene of accidents.
It had been erected using an accelerated modular building method that enabled it to go up in the space of a day.
“We are stunned by today’s tragic collapse of a pedestrian bridge,” said FIGG Engineering Group, one of the partners involved in the walkway’s construction.
“We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why,” the firm said in a statement.
“In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“Continuing to monitor the heartbreaking bridge collapse at FIU – so tragic,” President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter.
“Many brave First Responders rushed in to save lives. Thank you for your courage. Praying this evening for all who are affected,” he said.
Bridge collapses in the United States are infrequent despite rising risks associated with ageing infrastructure.
The deadliest such incident this century was in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2007, when an eight-lane bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.
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What About all the paedophiles the ira/sinn fein protected through their kangaroo courts….I’m happy enough with 26 counties, maybe even 25, done gal can go too..
Make a separate country of the 7 counties
@hi from heaven: does that mean we won’t have to pay for the pyrite scandal.If so I’m in.
@hi from heaven: Doesn’t matter either way, in 10 years we’re all going speaking Arabic and praying 90 times a day.
@hi from heaven: you know nothing about earth never mind heaven.
@IzwvqAph: bigot
@IzwvqAph: I’ve been hearing that for the last 10 years bro
@Anthony Curran: Stephen likes to live in a fantasy world.
@hi from heaven: Go across the water with west Brit.
@Brendan O’Brien: Here Factor 50, shush. Get your wellies on, rain is forecast.
@Daniel Roche: Why don’t you go live up in Northern Ireland if you’re so worried about it
@Ger Whelan: I live in Ireland with the other 32 counties of Ireland. Why don’t you take your West Brit ship home.you won’t leave too much of a coward,people in the North of Ireland are as irish as me living in Limerick
@Ger Whelan: I’m worried about donegal,do I have to move to each irish County? You have shown your West Brit colours. Did your family take the soup, too? It explains a lot.
@Daniel Roche: Except you don’t. There isn’t a country called Ireland. There is an Island of Ireland which has 2 countries on it, the Republic of Ireland and Northern island. No amount of childishness from you will change that absolute fact..
@IzwvqAph: Speak for yourself.
Wow…not seen SF in the news in ages…something must be up
@Ash Pleed: they were hiding. But now they need an urgent distraction away from one of their bigwigs being charged with three murders.
@John Mulligan: ‘ one of their bigwigs’ ? I hope you’ve got proof after making such an accusation?
death penalty instead of review…vermin
@well done to all the rescue teams: No, death is too good for him let him rot is a 6×4 windowless jail cell for 24hrs a day. No daylight or contact with others until the day he finally dies
@Ger Whelan: sounds good too!
Jim Jennings of RTE content department is rumored to be joining The top of Disney movie dept.
@Stanley darsh: I doubt it…that man was very very very very very very very sick could not even make the pac hearings for a day, according to his doctor, and I very much doubt his doctor would lie
@hi from heaven: it’s a shame he had to leave, he had such an eye for quality and talent.
Ffg have been protecting child abusers since the foundation of the state and a section of irish society are turning a blind eye to vile abuse
I am pat cusack a victim of michael shine who was abused over 20 times by him in hospital. Anyone calling for justice for the 300 plus victims of shine is doing good.
I think some of the previous comments are irrelevant and un helpful. When will we ever cop on Shine will be shown after death of course to be the most prolific independent serial sexual abuser/paedophile in Europe if not the world..everyone should be calling for the truth..
have your say