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Orlando law firm Morgan & Morgan to file first civil lawsuit in FIU bridge collapse

MIAMI, FLORIDA — One of Orlando’s top attorney’s will be filing the first civil lawsuit Monday on behalf of one of the survivors in the Florida International University bridge collapse.

Matt Morgan of the Orlando-based law firm Morgan & Morgan announcing on Sunday that he will be taking on the lawsuit by one of the injured victims.

“It is imperative we act quickly to secure critical documentation and data,” tweeted Morgan. “Thoughts and prayers to all the families impacted by this tragedy.”

(tweet)

Attorneys with Morgan & Morgan will hold a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss the details of the lawsuit.

Six people were killed when FIU’s newly constructed, 950-ton pedestrian bridge crumbled onto the cars below last Thursday. The bridge was supposed to be built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and last 100 years.

Emergency crews had been digging through the rubble for days hoping to find survivors. The last two victims were identified Sunday. At last check, eight people injured remain in the hospital.

Bridge Collapse

BRIDGE COLLAPSE -- New dash cam video shows the collapse of the #FIU pedestrian bridge.

Posted by WSVN-TV on Friday, March 16, 2018

(VIDEO)

According to the Florida Department of Transportation, a lead engineer on the project had contacted them days earlier warning about cracks in the bridge, but only left a voicemail saying they weren't concerned about safety issues. That message wasn't heard until a day after the collapse. FDOT has released the transcript of that call:

“Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that’s been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend. Um, so, uh, we’ve taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don’t see that there’s any issue there so we’re not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and something’s going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that. At any rate, I wanted to chat with you about that because I suspect at some point that’s gonna get to your desk. So, uh, at any rate, call me back when you can. Thank you. Bye.”

It’s still not clear what exactly caused the bridge to give way.

FIU’s president Mark Rosenberg is calling for a moment of silence at 1:47 p.m. Monday afternoon to honor the victims.

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