This horrific news comes to us from Andres Viglucci, Monique O. Madan and Daniel Chang’s article for the Miami Herald:
A pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed Thursday, just days after crews had dropped an elevated 950-ton span in place in a project that was intended to give Florida International University students a safe route across the busy roadway.
The bridge gave way suddenly while the traffic light for motorists on Tamiami Trail was red, so that the concrete span fell on top of a row of stopped vehicles.
A woman stopped at the light who was heading westbound said the structure fell without warning. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said it was immediately clear to her that several people were dead.
As of this moment, no information is available regarding the casualties. Looking at the video, I doubt there is any way of knowing for sure. But it is a near certainty that some number of innocent people are dead and others terribly injured.
This is another terrible reminder of the tenuousness of life. No one has any guarantees of where, when or how it will end.
My heart goes out to the victims. May there be as few of them as possible.
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UPDATE: Initial reports are 6 – 10 dead. Still no word on injuries.
Initial reports are very often wrong. Let’s hope against hope that this one is wrong because the death toll is overstated.
