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Pittsburgh bridge collapses hours before Biden’s visit to talk about infrastructure
The collapse injured ten people, three of which were taken to the hospital
January 28, 2022 2:32pm
Updated: January 28, 2022 5:19pm
A snow-covered bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed on Friday, hours before President Joe Biden planned to visit the city to talk about infrastructure.
Four vehicles were on the bridge when it collapsed, including a 60-foot city bus, according to a statement by Pittsburgh Public Safety. Ten people were injured, three of which were transported to the hospital. No fatalities have been reported.
The cause of the collapse is still under investigation. However, Mayor Ed Gainey said the bridge had been inspected in September.
At 6:39 a.m., rescue crews responded to the Forbes Avenue Bridge in Frick Park after the bridge collapsed. Five vehicles and one Port Authority bus were on the bridge. Three people were transported to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
— Pittsburgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) January 28, 2022
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"If this would have occurred an hour later, this is a road that gets probably about 15,000 cars on it a day, and if it was rush hour, we would be looking at a couple hundred cars down in that valley," said Pittsburg City Councilmember Corey O’Connor. "We got very, very lucky today, and hopefully those individuals at the hospital recover quickly and they're home safe in the next couple days."
The collapse also caused a natural gas line in the area to break. The line has been turned off since then. Peoples Gas spokesperson Barry Kukovich said the company had a gas line that “goes under the roadway and then it goes under the bridge."
President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak at Carnegie Mellon University about his infrastructure bill that was recently signed into law. The bill includes a budget to fix bridges, roads, ports, and airports.
During his visit to Pittsburgh, President Joe Biden visited the site of the collapsed bridge before continuing with his plans.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president is "grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time."
