Moment Of Silence Held Friday One Year After Deadly FIU Bridge Collapse
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MIAMI (CBSMIAMI) – Friday marks one year since the Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse, killing six people and injuring eight others.
The flag was flying at half staff on FIU'S campus Friday as the President of theUniversity Mark Rosenberg urged students, teacher and staff, "to remember the families lost, the lives shattered," by the tragedy one year ago today.
At 1:47p.m., the same exact time as the bridge collapse, Deacon Ralph Gazitua led a moment of silence at the Betty Chapman Plaza.
Then the Graham Center bells rang ring six times, once for each of the victims.
WATCH: BELLS TOLL AT FIU
"Our hearts are heavy, our FIU family will never forget," said Rosenberg.
Many on campus say it is a day they will never forget.
"I just wanted to know if everybody I worked with, I knew was okay," said recruiter Alfy Diomedios who remembers exactly where he was that day. "I was in a meeting and the meeting just completely stopped."
Many also remember when the bridge went up including student Thomas Kremer.
"I thought, like this will be a nice bridge that'll hopefully prevent tragedies," he said.
Here are the names of the victims.
Alexa Duran, 18, was an FIU freshman who was majoring in political science and looking forward to law school one day.
Navaro Brown, 37 was employed by a structural technology company and was working on the bridge at the time of the collapse.
Brandon Brownfield was a Maxim Crane Works technician, who was not working on the FIU bridge. He was driving home from work earlier than usual when he was trapped under the rubble.
Rolando Fraga Hernandez, 60, was a systems technician originally from Cuba. The day before the bridge collapse, Fraga Hernandez shared a quote in Spanish on his Facebook page: "Nothing is forever. Coffee gets cold, people leave, time passes and people change."
Osvaldo Gonzalez, 57 and Alberto Arias, 54 were partners in business and in life. The longtime couple was found in the same vehicle.
Duran's relatives visited the site of the bridge collapse. One family member said they have yet to get an apology.
"We are human. We make mistakes. I'm sorry Mrs. Duran for the loss of your beautiful daughter. But nobody said anything. I'm so upset," the relative said.
Gallery: Scene of the FIU Bridge Collapse
The FIU pedestrian bridge, which was still under construction, experienced structural failures and was already behind schedule and millions over budget in part because of a key change in the design and placement of one of its support towers, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The 950-ton, $14.2 million bridge, which linked the FIU campus to the city of Sweetwater, collapsed five days after it was installed.
It was intended to give FIU students a safe way to cross the eight-lane and extremely busy 8th Street/Tamiami Trail.
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investing and told CBS 4 News, the report will be completed and released this Fall.
The contractor that built the bridge, Miami-based Munilla Construction Management, recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
The company claims it Chapter 11 filing was not an attempt to escape responsibility that might arise from the collapse and plans to resolve the claims as part of the debt restructuring process.
