Several dead after pedestrian bridge collapses at Miami college (Photos)

Several people have been killed after a newly installed campus pedestrian bridge collapsed over a six-lane highway in the Miami area at Florida International University, trapping people and at least five cars underneath on Thursday afternoon.

The 950-tonne bridge fell at the university’s main Miami-area campus, crushing cars underneath it. It is believed that section of the bridge was just installed on Sunday.

Police said there were several fatalities, with at least eight people taken to a trauma centre at Kendall Regional Medical Center, according to a source close to the hospital.

The Miami Herald reported that the collapsed bridge, which connected Florida International University to a student housing area, had only been installed on Saturday and was not yet open.

A bridge in Miami, Florida has collapsed, trapping a number of vehicles beneath it - the bridge was only put in place on Saturday pic.twitter.com/VMQDoQbxUt
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 15, 2018

The bridge was intended to make crossing the busy road safer for students and was not expected to open until 2019.

Witnesses said there was a worker on top of the bridge when it collapsed just before 2pm on Thursday local time.