An overpass bridge collapsed on heavily-traveled Interstate 75 in the heart of Cincinnati on Monday night, leaving a construction worker dead and a tractor-trailer driver injured.
Construction personnel were working on the Hopple Street overpass bridge when it experienced a "catastrophic pancake collapse" just after 10:30 p.m.,
reported WLWT-TV. The bridge was in the process of being demolished because it was recently replaced by a new bridge.
The tractor-trailer hit the falling portion of the bridge. The names of the construction worker and the truck driver weren't released.
The truck driver was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black told
WCPO-TV that the city officials will begin an investigation into what went wrong at the site, calling the incident a "tragedy."
"It's a workplace incident," Black said. "You've got a lot of heavy equipment in a construction site."
Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell told WCPO-TV that the tractor-trailer drive was "very lucky" that he didn't sustain more serious injuries in the mishap.
"A matter of seconds and his fate would probably have been different," said Blackwell. "I've never seen anything like this in my life. The entire overpass just collapsed straight down onto the freeway."
The accident shut off service to the southbound lanes of I-75 and city officials initially told the public via social media that it would take two days to open up the lanes up again. I-75 is one of the busiest freeways in the city as travelers drive to and from Ohio to Kentucky.
But later, city officials went on Twitter to inform motorists that work may take even longer than expected on the southbound lane.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.