Child Dies After Truck Crashes Into Texas Bridge, Causing Collapse
A twelve year old girl was killed today when a truck struck a bridge in Sealy, Texas, causing it to partially collapse.
Truck With Raised Boom Crashed Into Bridge
The crash happened around 10 a.m. on Highway 36. According to reports, a Texas Disposal Services 18 wheeler with its boom in the raised position crashed into an Old Highway 90 bridge with a 13′ 9″ posted clearance.
Rubble from the bridge collapse fell on a passenger vehicle on Highway 36. A twelve year old girl in the front passenger seat was killed and her 35 year old mother, who was driving, suffered serious injuries. The woman’s 9 year old son in the back seat was not seriously hurt.
The 62 year old truck driver, Carl Weige, was transported to the hospital. His condition is unknown.
Crash Called “Operator Error”
Said Austin County Judge Tim Lapham, “The truck [that hit the bridge] was not that big, but its hydraulic lift was up, which then struck the bridge. It was an accident. Simply operator error or [the driver] didn’t know the lift was up.”
Lapham also confirms that the bridge has been hit before and was scheduled to be replaced in 2017.
Sealy Police Chief Chris Noble says that the bridge does have a warning system — metal cylinders suspended from a wire along with a large sign warning drivers that if they hit the cylinders, they will hit the bridge.
Noble says that for now, the incident is being treated as a homicide investigation “because of the nature of the circumstances… that part of the truck was suspended when it should’ve been down.”
#BREAKING UPDATE: One child dead, mother injured in Sealy bridge collapse. https://t.co/pYrNeQXM1M #kprc2 pic.twitter.com/6ytxGtBWG6
— KPRC 2 Houston (@KPRC2) July 7, 2016
Sources:
ABC 13
Click 2 Houston
KCRG
ABC News