A newly installed pedestrian bridge over a major road in Miami on a college campus collapsed Thursday, trapping at least eight cars below and leaving “multiple victims,” local officials said.
The walkway, which connected Florida International University to a student housing area, had only been installed less than a week before.
Florida Senator Bill Nelson told Fox News the death toll stood at between six and 10, but officials in Miami-Dade County gave no formal tally.
Emergency personnel were in “full search-and-rescue mode,” said the county’s deputy mayor, Maurice Kemp.
Multiple vehicles swarmed the area, and television footage showed a crane being moved into position where the bridge lay in sections across Southwest Eighth Street.
“This is such a horrifying tragedy,” said Senator Marco Rubio, who periodically teaches classes at FIU.
“The road under the collapsed bridge is heavily used by so many people in #Miami.”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Division Chief Paul Estopinan said at least eight cars were trapped when the 950-ton concrete bridge — only installed on Saturday, ahead if its planned opening in 2019 — suddenly gave way.
At least 10 people were taken to an area hospital — two of them in critical condition, according to Mark McKenney at the Kendall Regional Medical Center.
