Chicago Area Local News

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (CBS) ― It appears that the pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Merrillville, Ind., over the weekend was overloaded to about twice its capacity.

The park where the accident happened is expected reopened Monday, after being closed Sunday as officials investigated.

A preliminary police investigation indicated that the bridge was overloaded, and Ross Township Trustee John Rooda agreed with the assessment. Rooda said overloading caused the collapse.

"There were far too many people on the bridge. It was overloaded," he said. "We had uniformed (Merrillville) police officers at both ends. We shoot for 20 people. It can handle up to 40. We're confident there were twice as many on the bridge."

Rooda said the bridge was inspected by a construction company about a year ago and fixed.

"It was totally redone a year ago. The decking was all replaced. The fencing was improved. There was nothing structurally wrong with it," he said. "We redid any sections they had recommended that could possibly have any problems. It was simply overloaded. The chief of police says structural failure, but anything will fail if it's way over capacity."

With the bridge destroyed and the cables that held it together dangling, Rooda has to determine why that many people were on the bridge at once. He says Merrillville police officers stationed on either side of the bridge were supposed to control the number of people on the structure.

"That's been the procedure in the past," Rooda said. "What went wrong on the evening of the Fourth I don't know yet."

Fifty people tumbled into the water in Hidden Lake Park, at 63rd Avenue and Broadway in Merrillville, as they left from a 4th of July fireworks show late Saturday night. About 25 people were injured, but they are all expected to recover.

Those who were there described a chaotic and terrifying scene.

"I blacked out and don't remember anything except waking up in the ambulance with my head busted and blood in my face," said Nikee Lewis, 17, who was recovering at home Sunday morning with 10 stitches in her head.

Seth Argullin of Hammond, Ind., says a cable hit him and ripped the skin right off his arm.

"We got about midway to the bridge and it was a couple of people on the bridge shaking it back and forth, and all of a sudden we hit the water," he said.

Some witnesses and their families question why no one stopped crowding on the walkway.

Accident victim Raven Lovelace says she watched officers simply step aside and allow people to crowd onto the bridge.

Melodee Novak told CBS 2 kids were jumping on the bridge, adding to the stress on the brakets. It's something that has always caused her to fear that bridge.

"I've always hated that bridge and always said it's an accident waiting to happen," Novak said.

About 50 emergency vehicles responded, and dive teams helped pull victims from the water. A human chain in the water was set up to search for potential victims but nobody was located.

View Larger Map of Hidden Lake Park

As the park reopens, people who lost their belongings in the water may able to try and claim them at a lost and found.

Lovelace was in the middle of the bridge when it collapsed, and was back on the scene Monday to look for belongings that were lost in the chaos.

"I went in the water first and I went under and then my friend helped pull me up," said Lovelace, who cannot swim.

The bridge crossing is to remain closed until further notice.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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