佛罗里达步行桥工程师早知已有裂缝

Officials in the state of Florida say the lead engineer responsible for a pedestrian bridge that collapsed this week left a voicemail for a state official two days before the accident warning of “some cracking.”

The Florida Department of Transportation said the voicemail was not retrieved until Friday because the state transportation official to whom the message was directed was out of the office on assignment.

According to a transcript of the call released by the department, the engineer with the private contractor FIGG Bridge Group said he did not consider the cracking on the bridge a safety issue.

“Obviously the cracking is not good,” he said, adding that something would have to be done to repair it.

Earlier Friday, authorities in Florida said the death toll from the collapsed pedestrian bridge on the campus of Florida International University had risen to six people. They said the toll is expected to climb as searchers dig through rubble, where several cars remain buried.

Local Police Department acknowledged a homicide investigation is under way but described as premature reports that criminal charges are imminent.

At least nine people were injured when the bridge.

佛罗里达运输部说，这个电话留言星期五才发现，因为收留言的州政府运输官员正好因公出差。

根据州运输部公布的电话留言，私营承包商费格桥梁集团的工程师说，他不认为步行桥上的裂缝是安全问题。不过他说，有裂缝肯定不好，必须进行修复。

佛罗里达当局星期五早些时候说，佛罗里达国际大学校园的步行桥坍塌造成的死亡人数已上升到6人，还说随着搜救人员在废墟中搜索几辆被埋的汽车，死亡人数可能更多。

当地警方证实，已经开始过失杀人的调查，但是说有关将提出刑事指控的报道并不属实。

步行桥坍塌还造成至少9人受伤。