Miami-Dade Police Department Chief Juan Perez said Friday that the bridge collapse in Florida is a homicide investigation, but added that doesn’t mean there will be criminal charges.
Miami-Dade Police Department Chief Juan Perez said Friday that the bridge collapse in Florida is a homicide investigation, but added that doesn’t mean there will be criminal charges.
“We’re not there yet. We don’t even know if it’s going to lead to that,” Mr. Perez said at a press conference in Miami.
The pedestrian bridge collapsed Thursday afternoon and left six people dead at the last count. Recovery efforts are still underway, but officials said they are not hopeful there will be any more survivors. The newly installed bridge was on Florida International University’s campus in Miami.
SEE ALSO: Two companies in FIU bridge construction accused of ‘shoddy’ work in previous collapses
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said the agency brought a full investigative team to the area Thursday night and said their investigation differs from what local authorities are looking at.
“We’re charged by Congress to investigate transportation accidents, to determine the cause, [and] to make recommendations so that something like this does not happen in the future,” Mr. Sumwalt said.
