At least 6 dead in collapse of Miami college pedestrian bridge

Four people were found dead and at least nine others were injured and taken to local hospitals; officials at one point said 10 were injured.

Authorities say an innovative pedestrian bridge that failed at Florida International University had been put to a “stress test” and its cables were being tightened when it collapsed.

Alejandro Camacho told CBS News earlier that there were “several fatalities”.

Multiple agencies have responded to the scene.

“We’re working our way into the pile trying to create holes that we can actually physically see”, Miami-Dade Fire Department Division chief Paul Estopian told reporters.

As for FIGG, a 90-ton portion of a bridge the company was assembling in Virginia in June 2012 fell apart while under construction.

“Our focus is to remove all of the cars and all of the victims in a dignified manner and not compromise the investigation in the process”, said Maurice Kemp, Miami-Dade County’s deputy mayor.

The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the federal inquiry, and a team of investigators arrived Thursday night.

“This is a tragedy that we do not want to re-occur anywhere in the United States”, Perez said. “None have been removed as of yet”, said MDPD Detective Alberto Zabaleta, “again only the six that we’ve been able to confirm are the only ones that we’ve been able to reach out to”.

“We know that there’s people missing, the family members know that there’s people missing, and what we can tell them is that we can assume that they’re in there”, Perez said at a news conference. The span connected Sweetwater to Florida International University. As many as eight vehicles were underneath the debris, but crews at the scene initially struggled to reach them because of concerns that the structure could collapse further.

Sado said the police quickly moved her away from the scene.

Authorities confirmed Friday that an FIU student was among the deceased, but did not provide the victim’s identity.

She said she saw one woman get out of a auto that was “just nicked” and rescue personnel performing life-saving CPR on another person in the street. “Everything looked fine. I went underneath it with my own vehicle and it looked great”.

In Tuesday’s release, the university added, “The FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge is the largest pedestrian bridge moved via Self-Propelled Modular Transportation in USA history”.

Overnight, the search and rescue mission became a search and recovery effort.

It was meant to boost student safety, spanning a portion of U.S. Highway 41 known as the Tamiami Trail, to help people cross from campus to the city of Sweetwater, where the university said thousands of students live.

Miami-Dade police said a family reunification center has opened at FIU’s main campus in Room 100 inside the Student Academic Success Center, which is located in front of the bookstore. “The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life”, the statement read.

MCM Construction Management, which was building the bridge, posted a message to the company’s Facebook page promising “a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong”. Praying this evening for all who are affected. “We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why”.

FIGG Engineering said it took part in the bridge project and the collapse was a first in its 40-year history.

Bolton Perez and Associates, a third company involved in the construction of the bridge, would not immediately comment.