Rescue efforts are ongoing in Miami as a newly constructed pedestrian bridge has collapsed near the campus of Florida International University (FIU). The bridge was designed as a suspension bridge and the span that collapsed over the street was put into place on Saturday morning. [More on Design Below] There are numerous casualties and fatalities.

MIAMI – […] The bridge gave way suddenly while the traffic light for motorists on Tamiami Trail was red, so that the concrete span fell on top of a row of stopped vehicles.
[…] The bridge crashed across six lanes of heavily traveled Tamiami Trail, crushing a still undetermined number of cars and killing a still unclear number of people. Police on the scene said at least six people could be dead.The Florida Highway Patrol reported five or six cars were trapped under the bridge. Miami-Dade County police said at least eight cars had been crushed under the walkway, which was not yet open to student traffic.
At least eight people had been transported to the trauma center at Kendall Regional Medical Center, according to a source close to the hospital. The condition of the patients is not yet known.
(more…)