Video: Off-Duty Florida Officer Helped Rescue Bridge Collapse Casualties
Mendez -- had she beaten that red light -- might have been one of the victims of the collapse, which killed at least six people. Instead, she was both a witness and one of the first people to reach the injured in the critical moments after their trauma.
Sweetwater (FL) Police Sgt. saw the bridge fall last week and helped rescue some of the injured.
Sweetwater, FL, police Sgt. Jenna Mendez saw the pedestrian bridge fall onto 8th Street next to Florida International University on Thursday -- but it made so little sense, she first thought a demolition crew intentionally collapsed it.
"Why would they have brought the bridge down during the day?" she thought as it fell in front of her, as she was stopped at a red light just one intersection away.
Then she realized cars had just been crushed. Her confusion was over: "This was not on purpose; this was a catastrophe," she told CNN.
Mendez -- had she beaten that red light -- might have been one of the victims of the collapse, which killed at least six people. Instead, she was both a witness and one of the first people to reach the injured in the critical moments after their trauma.
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