A 50-year-old bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh early Friday, requiring rescuers to rappel nearly 150 feet and form a human chain to reach occupants of a bus that had plummeted with the span into a park ravine.
The collapse came hours before President Joe Biden was to visit the city to press for his $1 trillion infrastructure law, which has earmarked about $1.6 billion for Pennsylvania bridge maintenance.
There were minor injuries from the collapse but no fatalities, said authorities, who also flew drones to make sure no one was under any collapsed sections.
KDKA Newsradio's Marty Griffin spoke to Daryl Luciani, who was the bus driver of the Port Authority bus that was on the bridge when it collapsed. The full interview is below:
The Fern Hollow Bridge along Forbes Avenue near Frick Park came down around 7 a.m. A Port Authority bus and several other vehicles were on the bridge at the time.
A large number of EMS, fire and police vehicles were on the scene as first responders worked to rescue people from the ravine below. Officials said at least 10 people suffered minor injuries and four were transported to area hospitals. Others were treated on-scene.
According to Fire Chief Darrell Jones, the response to the scene was slowed by the winter weather and a few of the injuries were first responders who slipped and fell.
A large crack showed on the end of the bridge where the segmented bus landed 150 feet (46 meters) down in the ravine, as if hit by an earthquake. A car landed upside down in front of the bus, which was operated by the Pittsburgh area's transit agency.
Arriving just hours after the bridge collapse, President Joe Biden stared into the cratered muddy earth where the aging span fell early Friday, striking evidence supporting the $1 trillion infrastructure law he already had planned to tout on his trip to Pittsburgh.
“The idea that we’ve been so far behind on infrastructure for so many years, it’s mind boggling,” Biden said.
The infrastructure law signed by Biden has earmarked about $1.6 billion for Pennsylvania bridge maintenance, with tens of billions more for public transit, highway maintenance and broadband internet expansion in the state.
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Residents were advised to stay away from the collapse area because of a broken gas line. People's Gas was also called to the scene. Nearby homes and businesses were evacuated. This are changing traffic patterns.
Pittsburgh Public Schools transitioned to remote learning for all younger students. Middle schools and high schools are still in-person.
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