MIAMI: A newly installed pedestrian bridge spanning several lanes oftraffic collapsed at Florida International University on Thursday, killingseveral people and crushing vehicles caught in the rain of rubble inMiami-Dade County, officials said.

“Several people were killed. I just don’t know how many,” AlejandroCamacho, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol said in a telephoneinterview.

There were at least five to six vehicles crushed underneath the pedestriancrosswalk, he added.

Munilla Construction Management, which installed the bridge, in a statementon Twitter, said the bridge suffered a “catastrophic collapse causinginjuries and loss of life.”

The bridge connects the university with the city of Sweetwater and wasinstalled on Saturday in six hours over the eight-lane highway, accordingto a story that was posted on the university’s website. It was 174 feet (53m) long and weighed 950 tons.

The bridge was intended to provide a walkway over southwest Eighth Street,one of the busiest roads in South Florida. An 18-year-old female FIUstudent from San Diego was killed while trying to cross the street near FIUlast August, according to local media reports. – Agencies