A brand new bridge near Miami collapses, six people die. Could a telephone warning, which was discovered on an answering machine after the accident, perhaps save lives?
Before the collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Florida, a telephonic warning of cracks in the construction initially faded away unheard. The US media reported on Friday. One of the engineers had two days before the collapse, in which six people died, trying to inform a member of the building authority about his observations.
Since the clerk was out of the office, the engineer left the message “some cracks” at the north end of the bridge, which he classified as “not relevant from a security perspective” message on the answering machine. After all, this message had only been heard after the accident. Now it will be checked whether the collapse was based on the section mentioned in the call.
Miami: Six dead – police speak of “salvage action”
When the five-day-old pedestrian bridge collapsed on the site of a university near the metropolis of Miami, at least six people died. A spokesman for the police confirmed this figure at a press conference on Friday morning. “A rescue operation has become a salvage operation,” he said. Ten more people were injured in hospitals, according to local media.
The bridge had been erected last Saturday and should be officially released in early 2019 for pedestrian traffic. It should be reportedly stable enough to withstand hurricanes.
The 950-ton bridge suddenly collapsed on Thursday at a length of about 53 meters and fell on the underlying seven-lane road. She buried several cars under her.
For the cause of the accident, there were initially no details. The developer announced an investigation. The construction cost of the “Miami Herald” with 14.2 million US dollars.