Student Alexa Duran is one of at least six people killed when a bridge collapsed Thursday
SWEETWATER, Fl. — Crews have been working non-stop to reach and recover victims of the bridge collapse at Florida International University. The death toll is at least six, including 18-year-old Alexa Duran, a student at the school. Her car was crushed by the footbridge. Also, 37-year-old Navaro Brown, a bridge worker who was on the span when it collapsed, died. Two of his co-workers are among the nine injured.
Surveillance video shows the moment 950-tons of concrete and steel collapsed, crushing at least eight cars and shearing others in half. Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez announced the search and rescue phase is over. Crews are now trying to recover bodies.
« We expect to find other individuals down there, » Perez said. « So what’s probably best is we wait to find all the vehicles and we’ll give you a grand total of the fatalities and the magnitude of this event. »
On Friday afternoon, crews started the risky job of demolition as investigators began their work, which includes looking into reports a stress-test was being done when the walkway collapsed.
« If this is the case, why was the road underneath open during the stress test, » said State Rep. Carlos Curbelo.
In a tweet, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio offered this scenario: « The cables that suspend the Miami bridge had loosened and the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed. »
Plans for the bridge included a tower and cables attached to the walkway, but a week ago, the university and its builders celebrated the installation of the pedestrian span and the « accelerated bridge construction » method – partly developed at the school. It involves building bridge components off-site to minimize traffic interruptions and risk.
The purpose of the $14 million project was to provide a safe path over the busy highway after the death of an FIU student last year.
CBS News spoke to Carol Fraga, who was searching for her husband.
« It’s very difficult, the waiting is so… it’s nothing I can imagine, » she said.
It’s clearly very early on and investigators had to wait for the rubble to stabilize before getting a closer look, but they have acknowledged this is a wide ranging investigation and any suspected wrongdoing could lead to charges.
