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'Lord take the case and give us the pillow'... St. Mary bridge collapses after years of neglect
published: Tuesday | February 13, 2007 <DIV class=KonaBody xEM5i="true">
Clifton Shaw explains how the swing bridge collapsed with him and 19 others in the Wag Water River in Broadgate, St. Mary, on Sunday night. Mr. Shaw was not hurt in the incident. - Photos by Norman Grindley /Deputy Chief <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Photographer</SPAN>
Latoya Grindley, Gleaner Writer
Fourteen people were injured Sunday evening when a huge swinging bridge between Broad-gate and Mahoe Hill in St. Mary suddenly collapsed into the river below. Several people were on the bridge at the time.
Residents and curious onlookers alike gathered yesterday morning on the metal passage leading up to what was once an important and widely used swinging bridge.
Fright and disbelief were reflected on their faces as they stared at the loose, rusty suspension bolts hanging in the air. The bolts once held the bridge together. The broken bridge was lying in the very still Wag River.
All this painted a grim picture of what happened Sunday evening, an incident that has sent shock waves throughout the communities of Mahoe Hill and Broadgate.
Traumatising event
What was to be a regular Sunday evening's community <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">football </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">match</SPAN> turned into a chaotic and traumatising event for residents.
Footballers and spectators alike took to the community's swinging bridge as was customary after a the regular football match, but as fate would have it, things took an ugly turn, as a man who identified himself only as Clifton explained.
"Mi only hear when one bolt pull, and hear another and then I hear another and I just feel the bridge going down, and then I just say, 'Lord take the case and give us the <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink2 onmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2); style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2); onmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2); href="http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070213/lead/lead3.html#" target=_new><FONT style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: static" col
'Lord take the case and give us the pillow'... St. Mary bridge collapses after years of neglect
published: Tuesday | February 13, 2007 <DIV class=KonaBody xEM5i="true">
Clifton Shaw explains how the swing bridge collapsed with him and 19 others in the Wag Water River in Broadgate, St. Mary, on Sunday night. Mr. Shaw was not hurt in the incident. - Photos by Norman Grindley /Deputy Chief <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Photographer</SPAN>
Latoya Grindley, Gleaner Writer
Fourteen people were injured Sunday evening when a huge swinging bridge between Broad-gate and Mahoe Hill in St. Mary suddenly collapsed into the river below. Several people were on the bridge at the time.
Residents and curious onlookers alike gathered yesterday morning on the metal passage leading up to what was once an important and widely used swinging bridge.
Fright and disbelief were reflected on their faces as they stared at the loose, rusty suspension bolts hanging in the air. The bolts once held the bridge together. The broken bridge was lying in the very still Wag River.
All this painted a grim picture of what happened Sunday evening, an incident that has sent shock waves throughout the communities of Mahoe Hill and Broadgate.
Traumatising event
What was to be a regular Sunday evening's community <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">football </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">match</SPAN> turned into a chaotic and traumatising event for residents.
Footballers and spectators alike took to the community's swinging bridge as was customary after a the regular football match, but as fate would have it, things took an ugly turn, as a man who identified himself only as Clifton explained.
"Mi only hear when one bolt pull, and hear another and then I hear another and I just feel the bridge going down, and then I just say, 'Lord take the case and give us the <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink2 onmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2); style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2); onmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2); href="http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070213/lead/lead3.html#" target=_new><FONT style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: static" col