N3 bridge collapse victim in medically induced coma

[caption id="attachment_215010" align="aligncenter" width="630"] A pedestrian bridge collapsed on the N3 highway in Johannesburg on August 9
Picture: Daniel Born[/caption]

One of the people critically injured when a pedestrian bridge on N3 Geldenhuys Interchange collapsed on Wednesday is in a medically induced coma.

Transport minister Joe Maswanganyi and Gauteng Transport MEC Ismail Vadi visited the woman at the Randfontein Private Hospital on Thursday.

She was in a car with her husband and their daughter‚ 17‚ when the bridge between the Geldenhuys and Gillooly’s interchange came down around 1am. She suffered facial and head lacerations‚ fractured ribs‚ injured her left knee and left femoral artery.

Vadi also visited the woman’s husband who is currently unaware of her condition.

Vadi said he had sustained head injuries but was in a stable condition‚ alert‚ responding and should be discharged on Friday.

Two of the five people who were injured when the bridge collapsed have been discharged from hospital.

Maswanganyi‚ Vadi and South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) chief executive officer Skhumbuzo Macozoma visited the site of the collapse in Germiston earlier on Thursday.

Sanral inspected the pedestrian bridge last year and declared it structurally sound.

“There was nothing that we found that would have caused the bridge to collapse on its own‚ so there must have been something that caused the bridge to collapse‚” Macozoma said.

Three trucks and one car were damaged when the bridge collapsed‚ blocking the N3 highway.

Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona said on Wednesday there had been reports of an earth tremor in the area around the time of the incident.

Macozoma said: “There is a suspicion that there may have been a tremor this side and possibly that might have caused the bridge to be unstable. We don’t know.”

- TimesLIVE