One man was killed and a truck driver barely escaped death when the Hopple Road bridge over I-75 in the Cincinnati area collapsed around 10 p.m. on Jan. 19, sending hundreds of tons of concrete crashing down on the highway.
According to fire officials, the bridge was undergoing demolition when it collapsed onto the highway, crushing a construction worker and causing the semi truck to collide with large chunks of debris. The truck driver reportedly suffered minor injuries and was treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Calling the truck driver lucky, Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell noted during an interview with WCPO Channel 9 in Cincinnati that had the collapse occurred a few seconds later, “his fate probably would have been different.”
First responders worked for several hours to free the body of the construction worker, who has not been identified.
“It's a workplace incident. You've got a lot of heavy equipment in a construction site,” City Manager Harry Black told Channel 9. He said that a team from the city as well as the Ohio Department of Transportation are investigating.