What to Know
- The pedestrian bridge collapse near FIU killed six people on Thursday.
- Alexa Duran, an FIU student, was the first victim identified in the collapse.
- Authorities are working to determine why the bridge failed and crushed several cars.
FIU student Alexa Duran was "happy" just one hour before the bridge collapse killed her, according to one of the last people to see her alive.
A worker at FIU, Victoria González, shared an anecdote on Wednesday during a vigil held for the six victims who were killed when the pedestrian bridge crashed down.
González said she saw Duran, 18, and Duran's friend Richard Humble, 19, just before the deadly incident.
"That day that happened, the boy she was with was in the clinic with us," González said.
After the bridge collapsed, Humble, who was in the passenger seat as Duran drove, was able to escape.
However, Duran did not survive.
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"I saw him and her an hour before this happened. I think that has affected me," González added as she tried to hold back tears.
When asked how Alexa looked, González said "happy."
Humble said he tried to help Duran after the bridge crushed the car on Thursday, but he was unable.
"I shouted her name again and again but I did not hear anything," Humble said previously.
Duran was the first identified victim after the collapse. During the FIU vigil, the names of the victims were displayed on a screen inside a ballroom.
Loud gasps and crying could be heard from the crowd when Duran's name appeared on the screen.
"No one will be able to understand how I feel. Alexa was my world and my life," her mother, Gina Duran, told The Associated Press. "Nothing will ever be the same."
Mourners laid flowers and other items honoring the victims at a roadside memorial near the site where the bridge fell.
