One Dead, One Injured In Cincinnati Overpass Collapse

Police are reporting one person dead and one person injured after a highway overpassed collapsed in Cincinnati, Ohio late Monday evening.

The freeway overpass for Interstate 75, located north of downtown Cincinnati, was in the process of demolition when it collapsed at around 10:30 p.m. on Monday night, killing one construction worker and injuring the driver of a tractor-trailer truck.

Cincinnati Police Chief Jeff Blackwell told the Associated Press that the incident was a workplace-related tragedy, adding that construction crews were doing the routine job of dismantling a defunct bridge when something went "terribly wrong."

Blackwell added that the trailer-tractor driver was fortunate to be alive after surviving the accident with only seconds to spare.

"The big-rig driver is very lucky; in a matter of seconds his fate would have probably been different," Blackwell said.

A statement released by the City of Cincinnati described the incident as a "catastrophic pancake collapse" that happened as crews prepared to demolish the old Hopple Street overpass. The new bridge has already opened, but officials have warned that there may be delays in the downtown area due to the bridge collapse for the next several days, maybe even weeks.

"What appears to have happened is, in essence, an industrial incident -- a workplace incident with respect to a construction crew that's doing work out here," city manager Harry Black said in a statement, as reported by the Detroit Free Press. "Something went wrong, and a tragedy has occurred as a result."