Hope for survivors fades in rubble of Florida bridge collapse

[March 16, 2018]  By Zachary Fagenson

MIAMI (Reuters) - Rescue workers combed through the rubble of a pedestrian bridge that collapsed onto several lanes of traffic at Florida International University, but hopes of finding more survivors were fading early on Friday, police said.

Six people were confirmed dead after the newly built 950-ton bridge crushed vehicles on one of the busiest roads in South Florida on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, this has turned from a rescue to a recovery operation," a Miami-Dade police spokesman said on Friday morning. The number of the dead could rise as more vehicles could still be under the concrete and twisted metal, he added.

Emergency personnel with sniffer dogs searched for signs of life overnight.

At least 10 people were taken to hospitals and two remained critical, officials and local media reported.

Witnesses told local media the vehicles were stopped at a traffic light when the bridge collapsed on top of them at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday ET (1730 GMT).

At one point, police requested television helicopters leave the area so rescuers could hear for any sounds of people crying for help from beneath the collapsed structure, CBS Miami television said.

Uncertainty about the stability of remaining sections of the bridge hampered rescue efforts, officials said.

"The structure is very fragile, it's very dangerous for rescuers," a police spokesman said at an early morning press conference. "The entire bridge is in jeopardy."

The 174-feet (53-meter) long bridge connects the university with the city of Sweetwater and was installed on Saturday in six hours over the eight-lane highway, according to a report posted on the university's website.

"If anybody has done anything wrong, we will hold them accountable," said Florida Governor Rick Scott, at a Thursday night press conference. His office earlier issued statement saying a company contracted to inspect the bridge was not pre-qualified by the state.

Aerial view shows a pedestrian bridge collapsed at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, U.S., March 15, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

The bridge was intended to provide a walkway over the busy street where an 18-year-old female FIU student from San Diego was killed while trying to cross last August, according to local media reports.

Students at FIU are currently on their spring break vacation, which runs from March 12 to March 17.

To keep the inevitable disruption of traffic associated with bridge construction to a minimum, the 174-foot portion of the bridge was built adjacent to Southwest 8th Street using a method called Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC). It was driven into its perpendicular position across the road by a rig in only six hours on Saturday, according to a statement released by the university.

The $14.2 million bridge was designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, the most dangerous measure by the National Hurricane Center, and built to last 100 years, the university said. (http://bit.ly/2tQ2ARg)

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board were on the scene early Friday to investigate why it collapsed.

(Reporting by Zachary Fagenson; Additional reporting by Gina Cherelus, Joseph Ax, Daniel Wallis and Andrew Hay in New York, Scott Malone in Boston, Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, James Oliphant in Washington, Keith Coffman in Colorado and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Andrew Heavens)

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