Bridge collapse victims monitored

The City of Johannesburg is closely monitoring the people who were injured when a pedestrian bridge over the M1 highway collapsed.

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Johannesburg – The City of Johannesburg on Monday said it was closely monitoring the people who were injured when a pedestrian bridge over the M1 highway collapsed last week.

In a statement, the City said: “According to the latest report, nine people have thus far been discharged from different hospitals. Of the ten people still in hospital, seven are in a stable condition and three are critical.”

Two people died and more than 20 were injured when the support structures around the “Great Walk” bridge near Grayston gave away last Wednesday.

“On behalf of the City of Johannesburg, the Executive Mayor, Cllr. Parks Tau sent out sincere condolences to the two KwaZulu-Natal families who lost their loved ones in the M1 accident. One of the people who lost their lives was buried on Saturday while the other person will be buried at the weekend.

“We also wish all the people who were injured, both those who are still in hospital and the ones discharged, a speedy recovery. The accident was indeed very tragic as not only were lives lost, but people were badly injured and traumatised,” Tau said.

Tau visited families and patients in hospitals to offer comfort and words of strength.

Tau said: “At this stage it is unknown what caused the collapse of the scaffolding, however, families are awaiting answers and a team of engineering experts assigned by the City to establish what caused the accident, are currently hard at work to get these answers as soon as possible.”

The City said it was committed to ensuring that the investigations were concluded in the shortest possible time.

African News Agency

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