Miami, .- Local authorities and academics along with students from the International University of Miami (FIU), recalled this Friday with a moment of silence to the six fatalities of the collapse a year ago of a pedestrian bridge for “design errors.”
The six people killed were honored with several minutes of silence at a ceremony at the FIU facilities, where a bell rang six times in memory of each of the victims and the flag waved at half mast.
Two rows of law enforcement officers and uniformed firefighters joined the ceremony, which was also attended by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez and other city officials.
With dark glasses and visibly affected, the rector of the FIU, Mark Rosenberg, received the greeting and embrace of many of those present.
Six people, including a construction worker, were killed and eight others were injured by the collapse of the bridge, which used an “accelerated construction” method.
The 174 foot (53 meters) long prefabricated pedestrian bridge collapsed in broad daylight on March 15, 2017 on Calle Ocho, one of Miami’s main thoroughfares.
The purpose of the bridge was that FIU students could access the campus more safely.
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who taught at the FIU, joined the ceremony in remembrance of the victims and said in a statement that this “tragedy has left an indelible mark” on this university and the southern community. Florida.
The FIU “was more than an academic institution for me, it was my home,” said Rubio, who said his office “will continue to closely examine the investigation” of the collapse of the bridge by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). U.S.
Relatives of the victims of the collapse have filed several lawsuits.
The company Munilla Construction Management (MCM), one of the responsible for the construction of a pedestrian bridge, requested last week protection for bankruptcy.
MCM applied for protection under chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code, an action that allows companies with financial problems to create a restructuring plan to stay afloat and pay their creditors, the company said on its website.
Last November, the NTSB noted that the bridge under construction that collapsed had “design errors” that estimated “a greater resilience” of one of its sections. EFEUSA
