Caribbean National Among The Dead In Miami Bridge Collapse

News Americas, MIAMI, FL, Fri. Mar. 16, 2018: A 37-year-old Caribbean national is reportedly among the dead in the Miami bridge collapse.

Bridge worker Navaro Brown has been identified among the six dead in the collapse of the 950-ton span Florida International University, (FIU), pedestrian walkway at Southwest 8th Street and 109th Avenue, according to Michael Biesiada, a spokesman for Structural Technologies VSL and the Miami Herald.

News Americas has found that Brown was from May Pen, in the parish of Clarendon in central Jamaica, and went to Lennon High School. He lived in Fort Lauderdale.

“A hardworking humble youth… r.i.p mi cuz,” Appleonia Brown, from Mocho, Clarendon, Jamaica, also wrote on social media. Brown’s friends flooded his timeline with condolence statements after the post.

The news comes as federal officials began investigating the catastrophic collapse of 174 feet of the FIU pedestrian bridge and as city officials say more victims may be buried in the rubble.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Brown’s family and with the other affected employees,” Biesiada said. “We really appreciate the work of the first responders who immediately offered their help.”

Navaro Brown (Facebook image)

Biesiada wouldn’t say exactly what Brown and the other employees were doing on the bridge when it collapsed, but he confirmed that Structural Technologies VSL was working on the project “providing installation support for our products.”

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said on Twitter that workers were tightening cables on the pedestrian bridge when it collapsed, but did not offer any additional information.

The collapse occurred at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday. March 15, 2018, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Division Chief Paul Estopinan said.

FIU had touted the bridge to be one of the first of its kind, tweeting that it was swung into place on Saturday, March 10th. It was built by MCM Construction and by the FIGG Engineering-Bridge Group. Barnhart Crane & Rigging moved the bridge into place on Saturday.

It was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER Grant, Florida Department of Transportation, FIU and the City of Sweetwater to the tune of $14.2 million.