An engineer reported cracks in the collapsed Florida bridge before its deadly accident

The engineer who oversaw construction of the footbridge that collapsed in Florida Thursday, killing multiple people, left a voicemail with the state Transportation Department two days prior reporting cracks in the structure. The employee the engineer called was out of the office and thus did not hear the message until Friday.

However, it is not clear that the tragedy would have been prevented even if the voicemail were received more quickly: The engineer said the cracking would be repaired but was not a safety risk. "We've taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done, but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there, so we're not concerned about it from that perspective," said the message from engineer W. Denney Pate. "Although obviously the cracking is not good and something's going to have to be, you know, done to repair that."

The specific cause of the collapse remains unknown. Two of the firms involved in its construction were previously accused doing of shoddy, unsafe work.

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