Pittsburgh bridge collapses and bus dangles off the edge  News 360 Tv|Nasa Galaxy
Channel: NasaGalaxy
Date: 2022-01-28

Ten people were injured Friday morning when a snow-covered bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed ahead of President Joe Biden's scheduled visit to the area to talk about infrastructure.

Pittsburgh Public Safety announced at about 7 a.m. that the bridge, in Frick Park, had collapsed.
Three of the people hurt were a driver and two passengers who were on a bus when the bridge collapsed. Crews formed a human chain to help rescue multiple people from the bus, which was left dangling off the bridge, The Associated Press reported.

Responders who slipped and fell were also among the injured.

Darryl Jones, the city's fire chief, said crews had to rappel about 100 feet to help people, according to NBC affiliate WPXI of Pittsburgh.

Officials had urged everyone to avoid the area. The collapse caused a large gas leak, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety.

Some families were evacuated from nearby homes, but were cleared to return by the afternoon.

Witnesses said the loud noise from the collapse was followed by a hissing sound and the smell of natural gas.

“The first sound was much more intense, and kind of a rumbling, which I guess was the structure, the deck hitting the ground,” said Ken Doyno, a resident who lives four houses away. “I mean, the whole house rattled at that point.”

Douglas Gwilym, who was shoveling about an inch of snow when he heard the noise, said the collapse "sounded like a weather phenomenon more than anything."

A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday the agency was sending a team of about 10 people to investigate “not only what happened but why it happened.”

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