Pittsburgh firefighters and other responders were shaking their heads in wonder today at the lack of severe injuries after a local bridge collapsed, sending an articulated bus and five vehicles skidding into a crazy quilt of topsy turvy wreckage.
"I can't imagine how everybody was able to get up and pretty much walk away," was one shared sentiment.
"Think of the sudden terror those people must have felt as the bridge fell from under them," was another common thought. "And then... oh, not too bad."
Jennifer Homendy, National Transportation Safety Board investigator, agreed.
“It certainly takes your breath away when you are there,” she told reporters. “When I look at the position of the bus, and the position of the vehicles, I’m really thankful that no one lost their life in this collapse.”
The bus held a driver and two passengers and the other five vehicles held at least five persons.
One car fell off the broken roadway and into the dirt below, landing on its roof. Four vehicles skidded down to where a road segment broke and hit the ground. A small truck landed at a 90 degree angle to the drive direction. Nearby a subcompact rolled on its side, a front wheel dangling incongruously. Another car was at the bottom of a sharply tilted road segment.
The bus had been nearly off the bridge when it gave way, resulting in the vehicle's rear smashing up against a wall of broken roadway.
Four persons were treated and released from hospitals, officials said, adding that there were a few cuts and bruises among rescuers.
The two-lane bridge collapse in Pittsburgh's East End prompted 28 rescuers to rappel some 100 to 150 feet before forming a human chain in order to rescue motorists from vehicles near ground level or who had scrambled to a trail under the Frick Park span, authorities said.
Stills taken from a DroneBase video and other sources.
Please scroll down or control f the word "excellent" to reach good backgrounder video.
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"I can't imagine how everybody was able to get up and pretty much walk away," was one shared sentiment.
"Think of the sudden terror those people must have felt as the bridge fell from under them," was another common thought. "And then... oh, not too bad."
Jennifer Homendy, National Transportation Safety Board investigator, agreed.
“It certainly takes your breath away when you are there,” she told reporters. “When I look at the position of the bus, and the position of the vehicles, I’m really thankful that no one lost their life in this collapse.”
The bus held a driver and two passengers and the other five vehicles held at least five persons.
One car fell off the broken roadway and into the dirt below, landing on its roof. Four vehicles skidded down to where a road segment broke and hit the ground. A small truck landed at a 90 degree angle to the drive direction. Nearby a subcompact rolled on its side, a front wheel dangling incongruously. Another car was at the bottom of a sharply tilted road segment.
The bus had been nearly off the bridge when it gave way, resulting in the vehicle's rear smashing up against a wall of broken roadway.
Four persons were treated and released from hospitals, officials said, adding that there were a few cuts and bruises among rescuers.
The two-lane bridge collapse in Pittsburgh's East End prompted 28 rescuers to rappel some 100 to 150 feet before forming a human chain in order to rescue motorists from vehicles near ground level or who had scrambled to a trail under the Frick Park span, authorities said.
Stills taken from a DroneBase video and other sources.
Please scroll down or control f the word "excellent" to reach good backgrounder video.
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