A steel-framed bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh Friday morning at 6:39am, causing 10 non-life-threatening injuries and a “massive” gas leak that authorities have since gotten under control (watch above).

In a remarkable coincidence, President Joe Biden was scheduled to visit the city Friday to talk about the importance of upgrading the nation’s infrastructure. Pittsburgh is often referred to as “The City of Bridges.”

Five vehicles and a city bus were on the snow-covered bridge spanning a section of Frick Park when it fell, according to a statement from the city.

 

Three victims were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Several nearby houses were evacuated while authorities shut off ruptured gas lines.
First responders used ropes to rappel down to get to the victims, [Fire Chief Darryl Jones] said. Crews also used what he called a “daisy chain” where they linked hands to reach the victims and pull them out.

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman told CBS Pittsburgh: “This could have been much worse. We were fortunate that there was a public school delay and the traffic could have been much more pronounced…I’m just grateful nobody was killed.”

The president plans on visiting the site of the collapse later Friday afternoon.

In a statement, the White House said federal officials are in close contact with their local counterparts on the ground and are ready to provide assistance. “The president is grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time,” the statement read.

The New York Times adds:

[Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey] said that the bridge was last inspected in September. Previous reports from 2011 through 2017 listed the bridge in “poor” condition, and in a structural appraisal, described the bridge as meeting “minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as is.”

Reuters reports:

The collapse came just two weeks after Pennsylvania got $327 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for bridge repair as part of the Biden administration’s new infrastructure law. Pennsylvania’s share of the bridge-repair money is the third largest state allocation, behind only California and New York.

“At the end of the day, this is critical that we get this funding, and we are grateful to have the president coming today,” said Gainey.