A newly-installed portion of a pedestrian bridge connecting Florida International University with the city of Sweetwater collapsed Thursday, leading to several fatalities, as confirmed by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The bridge was in the process of being built by South Miami-based Munilla Construction Management (MCM), in partnership with Pennsylvania-based FIGG Bridge Engineers.
MCM, which was established in 1983, and which specializes in building and heavy civil construction, has done business with the county numerous times.
"Our family's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy," the company posted on its Facebook page.
"The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life. MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way."
Bridge construction began in the spring of 2017 and was expected to be completed by early 2019.
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