A 58-year-old bicyclist plunged to his death after trying to make it across a moving drawbridge.
On Wednesday, Fred Medina was riding his bike around 6:15 am across the South Miami Bridge near downtown Miami, Florida, when the drawbridge started to open up in front of him, reported the Miami Herald.
According to the Miami Police Department, the bridge’s warning arms came down and a whistle blew, but Medina tried to beat it in order to get across in time.
As the bridge began to move, the avid cyclist attempted to hold on but slipped and fell onto a concrete slab to his death.
“He tried to overtake the opening,” police spokeswoman Kenia Fallat told the outlet. “This appears to be accidental.”
Medina’s friend, Stephen Tannenbaum, said the father of two had a passion for cycling and was riding with another friend just prior to the accident.
"I don't know if [Medina] realized he had gone too far, and I guess the bridge tender didn't hear my friend yelling as he was up in the air," Tannenbaum told WSVN-TV. "He slid down the bridge and fell in between the section of the bridge that moves and the fixed part of the roadway."
Medina was an entertainment executive and worked mostly with Latin American media.
“Fred helped champion the Pay TV industry in Latin America in the numerous executive positions he held throughout the years,” Gustavo Pupo-Mayo, chairman of the board of directors for the Television Association of Programmers Latin America, told the Herald.
“He was a decent, thoughtful and intelligent man who loved his children deeply. An automobile enthusiast, Fred had many interests and was passionate about fitness,” Pupo-Mayo said.
"Most of all, Fred was a kind and gentle person who will be missed by his friends and colleagues.”
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