Last bodies recovered from collapsed Miami university bridge as victim’s family rages at ‘incompetence’
Two days before the collapse, an engineer left a voicemail to say some cracking had been found in the bridge – but it wasn’t picked up until after the collapse
As crews removed bodies from beneath a collapsed pedestrian bridge in Miami, one victim’s uncle raged against what he called the “complete incompetence” and “colossal failure” that allowed people to drive beneath the unfinished concrete span.
“Why they had to build this monstrosity in the first place to get children across the street?” said an anguished Joe Smitha, whose niece, Alexa Duran, was crushed in Thursday’s collapse at Florida International University.
“Then they decided to stress test this bridge while traffic was running underneath it?”
Six people died, including five whose bodies were recovered on Saturday as workers pulled out vehicles from the rubble, officials said.
Police had feared the death toll could rise above six. But authorities found what they believe to be the last body on Saturday, Miami-Dade Police Department director Juan Perez said.
