Summary: The first lawsuit concerning the Miami bridge collapse was filed on Monday.
A bicyclist who claims to have been injured by the Miami bridge collapse filed a civil lawsuit on Monday against the builders for negligence.
According to NBC News, Marquise Hepburn, 24, was riding a bike to work on Thursday when the Miami bridge collapsed. He was struck by a car that veered into his path, and he claimed to have been entrapped.
Hepburn, 24, said that he was injured in the collapse, and on Monday, he filed the first lawsuit concerning the tragedy that happened last week. Hepburn is accusing various design and engineering companies of reckless negligence, and defendants in his case include Munilla Construction Management and FIGG Bridge Engineers.
Hepburn is being represented by attorney Matt Morgan, who held a press conference and revealed that his client was injured and now on medication.
“He remains in a bad way and he’s recovering,” Morgan said.
Hepburn is asking for $15,000, and Morgan said he predicts with all the lawsuits filed the bridge-makers stand to lose $1 billion.
On Thursday, the Miami bridge collapsed, and investigators are still working on what caused the tragedy, which some said could have been prevented. Days before the incident, a FIGG engineer working on the bridge had warned authorities through voicemail that he had seen cracks in the structure, but that call had not been heard until Friday because the recipient was out of the office.
According to officials, the bridge collapse had killed six and injured eight. The bridge was intended to connect Florida International University with the nearby town of Sweetwater. The school did not build the bridge but it had awarded the contract as part of a federal grant.
Fox News reported that a key design change had stymied the cost and construction schedule of the bridge and that video of the collapse showed concrete problems where the redesign had occurred.
“Documents obtained by The Associated Press through a public-records request show that the Florida Department of Transportation in October 2016 ordered Florida International University and its contractors to move one of the bridge’s main support structures 11 feet north to the edge of a canal, widening the gap between the crossing’s end supports and requiring some new structural design,” Fox News said.
Fox News said that it is unclear whether or not the change is what caused the fatal collapse but that there is mounting evidence that points in this direction.