5 people hospitalized after pedestrian bridge collapses onto DC highway

Five people were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after a pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a busy Washington, D.C., highway Wednesday, officials said.

Five people were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after a pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a busy Washington, D.C., highway, officials said. The incident occurred just before noon Wednesday on DC-295 near Polk Street. The collapse appears to have been caused by a collision, D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Chris Geldart said during a press briefing. Based on the preliminary investigation, a truck carrying diesel fuel may have collided with the bridge, causing it to separate from its mooring, he said. Multiple cars were then involved in the crash, with five people in those cars transported to local hospitals, he said. "Everything we see on the accident scene right now leads to this being a collision pulling the bridge off its mooring," said Geldart, who noted they were "very lucky" there weren't any serious injuries.