The first victim of the Miami bridge collapse has been identified and named as 18-year-old student, Alexa Duran. Alexa was identified by her father as one of the six victims who was killed in Thursday’s fatal pedestrian bridge collapse at Florida International University (FIU).
The 18-year-old was driving her friend Richie Humble back from a doctor’s appointment when the bridge collapsed on to her Toyota SUV. Richie was able to escape the squashed vehicle but could not save his friend, who was crushed under the concrete.
Alexa remained missing this morning but was confirmed as being one of the victims by her father later this afternoon.
Speaking in Spanish from London, he told el Nuevo Herald: ‘My little girl was trapped in the car and couldn’t get out. She died when the bridge collapsed on top of her car.’ Mr Duran had been traveling in England when he was told the devastating news. He was preparing to return to Miami this evening.
A friend of Alexa’s told the Miami Herald that Richie, who suffered several injuries to his neck and leg, was able to survive because his side of the car was not as badly crushed as Alexa’s.
Richie revealed the moment the bridge collapsed on to them. He told the Today show: ‘We were parked at a red light and I started to hear the bridge creak, so I look up and I saw the bridge falling on top of us.
‘It fell on the roof of the car and…kind of caved in on my neck and squished me down. But I didn’t really know what was going on at all. ‘I tried to duck but at the same time it was just way too fast.’
Richie then said he started screaming his friend’s name but ‘didn’t hear anything’. The 18-year-old was in her first year of a political science degree at FIU. At least five other people died when the brand new bridge collapsed onto a busy road in Miami, just days after it was installed in
