School was aware of crack in pedestrian bridge before deadly collapse

Tragedy unfolded in Florida on Thursday after a pedestrian bridge collapsed, trapping several cars underneath.

Miami-Dade Police say that they have finished extracting the vehicles from underneath the wreckage, and are now working on identifying the victims and bringing closure to their families and community. A total of six people died in the tragedy.

#MomentOfSilence at the scene of the #FIUBridgeCollapse. pic.twitter.com/ZxT4s7uwDs

— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) March 17, 2018

The Florida University says they are cooperating with officials to figure out how this happened and released a statement on Saturday about a meeting that took place before the incident.

The statement says that on Thursday morning at 9 a.m., a meeting was held to discuss a crack that appeared on the structure.

#MDFRUpdate: With the last vehicle removed, #MDFR has concluded recovery efforts for the #FIUBridgeCollapse. Our community has forever been changed by this tragic incident. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the victims and their families. pic.twitter.com/Fza4WsQOqt

— MDFR (@MiamiDadeFire) March 18, 2018

“The FIGG engineer of record delivered a technical presentation regarding the crack and concluded that there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge,” FIU said.

They added that the meeting lasted about two hours. At about 1:47 p.m., the bridge collapsed, trapping eight vehicles underneath it.

The university had previously said that the bridge was designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and last for at least 100 years.

A message from President Rosenberg. Tomorrow we will have a moment of silence at 1:47p.m. Please join us wherever you are and keep the victims and the families in your thoughts. pic.twitter.com/P17gxhVWHt

— FIU (@FIU) March 18, 2018

The university is planning on holding a vigil to honour the victims this coming Wednesday.