Tuesday, February 8, 2022

West Palm Beach: 79-Year-Old Woman Falls to Her Death After Drawbridge Opens as She Walked Her Bike Across (VIDEO)

This is absolutely infuriating! 

How can something like this possibly happen --- falling down a drawbridge 12 stories to your death is not a thing?!! 

Heinous, reckless disregard for human life.

At the Palm Beach Post, "West Palm Beach police say 79-year-old woman fell to her death from Royal Park Bridge: The woman was about 10 feet away from safety when the bridge started to rise Sunday afternoon, West Palm Beach police said."

And WESH 2 News Orlando, "Detectives identify woman who fell to her death from Florida drawbridge as 79-year-old":

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Officials have identified a woman who fell about 50 feet to her death from a Florida drawbridge Sunday.

Investigators said the 79-year-old West Palm Beach resident was walking her bicycle in the pedestrian lane of the Royal Park Bridge connecting the town of Palm Beach to West Palm Beach around 1 p.m. She was coming from the island to the city of West Palm Beach when the incident happened.

Detectives say the woman's name will not be released due to Marsy's Law, but she was positively identified by authorities on Monday night.

According to a news release from police, the woman was approximately 10 feet from the westernmost section of the elevating bridge span, approaching the stationary segment of the bridge, when she attempted to hold on to a railing, then lost her grip and fell about 50-60 feet to her death.

A skateboarder on the fixed span tried to help but could not reach her.

"There was a man who tried to help this woman as she was holding on to the elevated bridge, but unfortunately he was not able to rescue her,” said Mike Jachles, public information officer for the West Palm Beach Police Department. "Unfortunately and tragically, she fell, landing about 50 to 60 feet below, where the mechanical parts to the bridge are, and she died on impact."

The bridge remained closed for six hours while the on-scene investigation was conducted...

The story notes that "the bridge tender was 'very upset'." 

You think? 


0 comments: