A pedestrian bridge collapsed after being hit by an oversized truck in Detroit earlier this morning.
The incident occurred near Joy Road where the waste hauler had hit the bridge with its rear component up, pulling the structure down. The driver of the truck passed away after being taken to a nearby hospital. Roads are closed at Southfield Freeway I-96 and Ford Road for an unspecified amount of time. Drivers will be rerouted until then.
Barnika Cage, a resident who lives a block away from the bridge, recalls she was awoken by a loud boom and made her way to the source of the noise. She arrived at the accident to see the bridge had twisted and fallen and a man came out of the truck with blood running down his face. She described him as an African-American male in his late 40’s. The driver’s name has yet to be released.
The exact age of the bridge is unknown but it wasn’t replaced when the freeway was rebuilt back in 2009. According to Michigan Department of Transportation spokeswoman, Diane Cross, the bridge was in “fair to good” condition and still had a good amount of years left meaning the collapse was primarily due to the truck’s boom pulling it down.