The mayor of a city in Mexico has been left embarrassed after a new bridge during it’s inauguration collapsed, sending him and more than 20 people into a ditch. According to reports eight people were injured with broken bones.
The local city government said in a statement that four city council members, two other city officials and a local reporter were injured and had to be extracted on stretchers from the gully and were taken to local hospitals.
In the video you can see a large group of people making their way on the bridge. The bridge at first seems to hold, but soon gives way sending everyone on it crashing down onto rocks, boulders as well as a nearby stream. But the walkway could not hold their weight and dramatically buckled, plunging them into the murky water below. According to local reports people fell 10 feet down, including the mayor’s wife.
The hanging bridge made of wooden boards and metal chains was recently remodeled. According to local news reports Mayor José Luis Urióstegui said that prior to the inaugural walk across the bridge some people had been jumping on it. More so the presence of officials and journalists probably exceeded the bridges capacity according to the Mayor.
According to The Guardian the footbridge was part of a river walk along one of the city’s many streams. Cuernavaca has undergone explosive growth and has largely ignored or polluted many of its waterways. The river walk was intended to be part of a revival of the city’s natural attractions.
The city of Cuernavaca is located just south of the capital of Mexico City and is highly popular for local residents to visit on long weekends.
This news has not been edited by our staff and has been posted to keep the users updated.
