Police now say the death toll has risen to six with another 10 people injured, some critically, in a pedestrian bridge collapse Thursday over a busy Miami highway adjacent to the Florida International University campus.
State and federal investigators say they are working "feverishly" to determine how and why the structure failed while under construction.
“This has turned from a rescue to a recovery operation,” said Miami-Dade Police Det. Alvaro Zabaleta on Friday.
Emergency services had been racing to find survivors in the rubble using high-tech listening devices, sniffer dogs and search cameras.
“We have to remove some of this piece by piece. It’s very unstable,” said Dave Downey, the fire chief of Miami-Dade county.
The $16.5 million, 950-ton, 174-foot pedestrian bridge was assembled by the side of the highway and moved into place Saturday to great fanfare. It was supposed to open in 2019 as a safe way to cross a busy road between the FIU campus and the Sweetwater district, where many students live.
Gov. Rick Scott and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who is an adjunct professor at FIU, joined other officials at the scene. Rubio said the public and the families of the dead and injured deserve to know “what went wrong.”
Scott said an investigation would get to the bottom of “why this happened and what happened,” and that if anyone did anything wrong, “we will hold them accountable.”
Rubio said the bridge was intended to be an innovative and “one-of-a-kind engineering design.”
In models and drawings of the structure, the bridge has a tall, off-center tower with supporting cables attached to the walkway. When the span collapsed, the main tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.
The pedestrian bridge was a collaboration between Miami-based MCM Construction and Figg Bridge Design, which is based in Tallahassee. Figg is responsible for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay.
In a statement on Thursday, Figg said the it was stunned by the collapse and that it would cooperate with investigations.
“In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before,” the company said. “Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved.”
MCM Construction said it would participate in “a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong.”
"Our Panther family is aching from this horrific tragedy," said FIU alum Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami. "My prayers continue for the victims and families of the Florida International University bridge collapse. Although state-of-the-art engineering and technology are the way of the future, safety must always come first. Rest assured, we will conduct a thorough investigation into this catastrophe and hold those accountable for any and all wrongdoing. ..."
Mark Rosenberg, the president of the university, said tests were being done on Thursday. Authorities said two construction workers were on the bridge when it collapsed. It is unclear what the tests were or whether they contributed to the failure of the structure.
“This bridge was about goodness, not sadness,” Rosenberg said. “Now we’re feeling immense sadness, uncontrollable sadness. And our hearts go out to all those affected, their friends and their families. We’re committed to assist in all efforts necessary, and our hope is that this sadness can galvanize the entire community to stay the course, a course of goodness, of hope, of opportunity.”
- issuing a permit for traffic control during installation of the structure last Saturday;
- acting as a pass-through for federal funding and providing $57,000 in state funding for the $16.5 million project;
- conducting a routine preliminary review to ensure the project complied with the terms of the agreement with the state. This is a standard process FDOT conducts for projects like this; and
- authorizing FIU to use the aerial space above the state road to build a structure, which FIU and its contractors are solely responsible to inspect and maintain at the university’s sole expense.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
