Hopes fade for bridge victims
No more survivors are expected to be found beneath the crumpled concrete of the 860-tonne pedestrian bridge that collapsed at Florida International University on Friday, killing at least six people, police say.
As rescuers worked to clear the rubble, and teams of government investigators descended on the scene where the bridge came crashing down, Miami-Dade police said they expected the death toll to rise.
‘‘We know that there are people missing,’’ said Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez, who did not clarify whether the death toll included those still trapped under the bridge. ‘‘We’re caught in a bad place right now.’’
Wreckers are using heavy machinery to chip away at the massive southern end of the collapsed walkway, which had buckled.
‘‘It’s a slow process because of the unsteadiness of the structure,’’ said Miami-Dade police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta.
While rescuers search for the dead and investigators document the evidence in painstaking detail, Perez said police were working to contact the families of those whose bodies had been identified. Their names would not be released until then, he said.
Perez said investigators had an idea of who may have been inside some of the eight cars crushed under the bridge, because of their licence plates.
However, police could not be certain who was behind the wheel of each car, or account for any possible passengers, until rescuers finished the grim task of clearing the rubble.
‘‘This is going to be a long-term operation,’’ said Miami-Dade Fire Chief Dave Downey.
Perez said rescue workers had confirmed that at least five bodies remained under the bridge.
He also said criminal charges were possible, depending on the results of ongoing investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue workers, homicide detectives, engineers and federal investigators have been working the scene since the bridge fell across eight lanes of the heavily travelled Tamiami Trail while unsuspecting drivers below waited at a red light. Witnesses said the bridge snapped suddenly at the far ends and crashed down.
It is not yet clear what caused the collapse only five days after construction crews raised the bridge’s main span, measuring 54 metres, into place on March 10. It was the first piece of a planned 98m pedestrian bridge that would have connected FIU’s Modesto A Maidique Campus to the neighbouring city of Sweetwater.
Federal investigators said they intended to find out exactly why the bridge collapsed. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said the agency’s team of 15 investigators would be conducting its own probe, independent of local authorities.
‘‘We are here to determine the cause and make a recommendation to make sure something like this doesn’t happen in the future.’’
Relatives and friends of people still missing have gathered at the university, longing and praying for miracles.
An FIU student who narrowly escaped from a car that was smashed by the collapsing bridge said he watched helplessly as the structure tumbled down on top of the vehicle and killed the friend who was sitting next to him in the driver’s seat.
Richie Humble said he heard a long creaking noise coming from the structure. ‘‘I looked up, and in an instant, the bridge was collapsing on us completely. It was too quick to do anything about it.’’
Once he realised he was alive, Humble also realised that he could not get to the young woman who was driving, Alexa Duran. He called to her but got no response.
A group of men outside the car grabbed a wooden plank and pried open the rear door to pull him free, he said. ‘‘I was trying to get people to realise my friend was still in there.’’
Jorge and Carol Fraga said they feared their relative’s car was trapped beneath the bridge. Jorge’s 60-year-old uncle, Rolando Fraga, lives in the area and frequently takes the nearby turnpike to work, but no-one has heard from him since the collapse.