What to Know
- Katrina Collazo was the featured speaker at a Hialeah church, giving her account of what took place Thursday.
- Officials continue to investigate why the bridge, which days before had been praised for being finished ahead of schedule, collapsed.
Fighting back tears, a survivor of last week’s deadly bridge collapse near Florida International University expressed her gratitude to be alive during a church service Sunday.
Katrina Collazo was the featured speaker at the Hialeah church, giving her account of what took place Thursday when a pedestrian bridge near Southwest 8th Street and 109th Avenue collapsed just after 1:45 p.m., killing six people and sending nearly a dozen more to the hospital.
“It’s incredible how a lot of us do not value the most precious gift that God gives us: life,” Collazo said in Spanish to fellow churchgoers. “I didn't know it until March 15th.”
Officials continue their investigation into why the bridge, which days before had been praised for being finished ahead of schedule, collapsed on top of the busy road. Students return to classes Monday at FIU after being on Spring Break last week.
“There's times that I ask myself ‘why me, God, why me,” Collazo said. “I don't know why so many others did not survive. Maybe I will never know why.”
“I want you to know there's times that things don't come out the way we want them to come out but the most important thing is that I can be here today,” she added. “God is real. He does exist. Miracles do exist.”
