Bridge collapses in Giles County with people on it

WSLS News Staff

Published: October 12, 2008

Updated 6:22 p.m.

WSLS crew spoke with several of the people hurt from the bridge collapse at the hospital.

One woman tells us she was about to go onto the bridge, when a cable snapped, then wrapped around her neck. The woman says she then saved a child who was near the edge of the bridge.

“The bridge started to fall, a cable was coming down. I grabbed for the boys to pull them back, and the cable caught me in the chin.  The cable wrapped around her neck,“ Marlena Clark said.

Other witnesses say they heard a loud snap before they fell.

“Someone just went to take a snap and it swung around hit my aunt in the face.  We just all fell,“ Logan Merrix said.

“I just remember hearing a loud snap, then I hit the water,“ Mitchell Saunders said.

“All I heard was a little really loud pop noise and people started flipping over,“ Shane Clark said.

VDOT says the bridge was rebuilt in 1992, after flood waters washed away parts of it. VDOT’s last inspection in May 2007 found the bridge to be in good condition.

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Updated 5:42 p.m.

EMS crews took victims to Carilion Giles Memorial Hospital in Pearisburg.

VDOT spokeswoman Heidi Coy tells WSLS that the swinging bridge was last inspected in May of 2007. Coy adds that the bridge is inspected at least once every two years, like any other VDOT bridge.

Coy says the bridge stands about 30 feet above Walker creek, and the ten people who were on the bridge fell into water between three and four feet deep.

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Updated 5:21 p.m.

Giles County Sheriff W. Morgan Millirons tells us that ten people were on the swinging bridge when it collapsed.

EMS crews took seven of the ten to the hospital.

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Updated 4:47 p.m.

Picture from scene taken by WSLS Photographer Hoai-Nam Nguyen, added to story.

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Updatd 4:09 p.m. Sunday

VDOT says the collapse happened around 2:00 p.m.

VDOT tells us bridge is mainly used by people to walk over when there is flooding of Walker Creek.

The bridge is near Route 811, Bane Road.

Click here for a map

VDOT crews are working to stabilize the area near the bridge, and figure out what caused the bridge to collapse.

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3:22 p.m. Sunday

Multiple people are hurt, following a bridge collapse in Giles County.

The Giles County Sheriff’s Office tells WSLS that a swinging bridge that connects Patterson Ford Road (Route 749) and Route 100, collapsed Sunday afternoon.

Officers tell us several people were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and fell into the water below.

We’re still waiting to hear about how many people were on the bridge, and how seriously they are hurt.