Staff Reporter: At least 10 people were injured when a bridge collapsed before the US president arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The incident happened just hours before US President Joe Biden’s scheduled visit to the city on Friday (January 28). The visit is part of Biden’s plan to strengthen the country’s infrastructure.
One person has since been released from the hospital and officials from the Port Authority said one person who was on the bus was checked out at the scene and left, however, two hours later the person complained of injuries and was taken to an area hospital.
The bridge that collapsed is known as the Fern Hollow Bridge, used by an estimated 14,500 vehicles daily.
Chief of Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Fire, Darryl Jones said first responders formed a human chain to pull every person trapped in the collapse nearly 150 feet to safety.
The Pennsylvania Urban Search and Rescue Team was called in. Chief Jones said the team drilled into parts of the bridge to check for void spaces where someone could be trapped. Canines were also brought in to assist.
“A half hour later the bridge would’ve been full with vehicles of commuters going back-and-forth,” Jones said. “It would’ve been a lot worse. No one died. I know a lot of people are upset… ‘Do you know how this could happen?’ It’s under investigation. We are going to try to determine that.”
On Friday evening, NTSB officials arrived at the scene to investigate the bridge collapse.
NTSB Board Chair, Jennifer Homendy said ultimately this disaster had a fortunate outcome.
“This was certainly very tragic and something I’m sure those involved are still processing,” Homendy said.
She said investigators will move down into the ravine on Saturday, and her team’s focus will be pinpointing what triggered the collapse.
“Our engineering team will look for signs of stress in the materials that comprise the bridge, signs of fracture, signs of deterioration,” NTSB investigator, Dennis Collins said.
City officials said the bridge came down at 6:39 a.m. Witnesses said the loud noise from the collapse was followed by a hissing sound and the smell of natural gas.
A major gas leak caused a strong odor in the area. Some homes were evacuated due to the leak, but all residents have been able to return to their homes.
Rescuers had to rappel nearly 150 feet and form a human chain to reach the people in the articulated bus that fell with the bridge into the ravine.
Port Authority officials said a driver and two passengers were on the 61B bus, which was headed outbound from downtown Pittsburgh to Braddock when the collapse happened. Pittsburgh Public Safety officials said the passengers were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Authorities flew drones to make sure no one was under any collapsed sections of the bridge, and a spokesman for Mayor Ed Gainey said a search-and-rescue team combed the area for any other possible victims.Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the collapse.
Owned by the city, the bridge is an important artery that leads to Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill and Oakland neighborhoods. Public Safety officials say the span was most recently inspected in September.
The bridge was in “poor” overall condition, according to a statewide listing of bridge conditions on the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation website. The report listed the deck condition as poor and said the substructure was satisfactory.
“I don’t know the standards to when you get to a point where it has be shut down, but I think that’s something that we have to look at as a council to say, ‘what are our standards locally?’ And up them.” Corey O’Connor, Pittsburgh city councilman.
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