Pittsburgh bridge collapse - Biden delivers infrastructure remarks and promises to ‘fix them all’
Injuries were reported on the scene after roadway plunged into the ravine
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A bus and several cars plummeted into a ravine as the Forbes Avenue Bridge in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park collapsed at around 6am on Friday.
Pictures from the area show the cracked, snow-covered bridge lying in the Fern Hollow gorge, with emergency services on the scene.
Despite several vehicles being thrown from the bridge as it collapsed, emergency services reported there had been no fatalities, while paramedics reported 10 people had suffered injuries, including one firefighter who was being treated at the scene, Trib live reported.
Rescuers rapelled down 150ft to reach the site and a human chain was formed to help people to safety from a city bus that was crossing the bridge at the time.
Following the collapse a gas line was cut and it took almost 30 mins to shut the pipeline down as neighbouring houses and businesses were evacuated.
The collapse of the bridge came just hours before President Joe Biden arrived in Pittsburgh, known as the City of Bridges, to discuss plans to improve the country’s infrastructure. He visited the site of the disaster with Mayor Ed Gainey and met with first responders.
Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg is monitoring the situation and is also set to speak about infrastructure at an event in Kansas later today.
In a particularly fiery moment of his speech, the president railed against parents being unable to afford insulin for a child with type one diabetes.
“It strips you of your dignity, damnit!”
In pictures: President Joe Biden tours site of bridge collapse
Secretary Buttigieg tours Kansas transport projects
Secretary Pete Buttigieg tours Kansas transport projects with Representative Sharice Davids.
Biden delivered his remarks at Mill 19 a former steel mill
President Joe Biden received a tour of and delivered his remarks at Mill 19, a former steel mill turned CMU R/D facility in Pittsburgh.
The bipartisan bill that passed in November?
An awkward moment on Fox News earlier, when Julie Banderas said the lack of bipartisan support for Biden’s infrastructure bill was why it had not passed.
The bill passed with the support of 19 Republican Senators and 13 House Republicans in November.
Ms Banderas has since said that she “misspoke” and was “referring to the President touting the bi-partisan bill back in June” but that “our roads remain a mess.”
President Biden delivers remarks at Carnegie Mellon University
Biden vows to fix bridges
President Joe Biden has visited the scene of a collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh, which injured at least 10 people on Friday morning.
The president was already scheduled to visit the Pennsylvania city in the afternoon and speak at Carnegie Mellon University to discuss jobs, the nation’s economy, supply chains, and to tout his bipartisan infrastructure law.
In his remarks at the university, Mr Biden emphasised why investment in infrastructure is needed, saying: “We don’t need headlines saying that someone was killed when the next bridge collapses… We saw today, when a bridge is in disrepair, it literally can threaten lives… We’re going to rebuild that bridge.”
Biden decries ‘unacceptable’ bridge conditions in wake of Pittsburgh collapse
The bridge collapse happened hours before Biden was set to deliver key speech on economy and infrastructure
That’s all for our rolling coverage of today’s events in Pittsburgh.
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