Woman Miscarries After Bridge Fall

A pregnant woman clung desperately to the edge of a drawbridge and finally fell 50 feet onto the sidewalk after the bridge tender mistakenly raised the span as she was walking across.

The 25-year-old woman, whose identity wasn’t released, miscarried after the fall Tuesday and was in critical condition. She had been six months pregnant.

The bridge tender, Willie J. Burnes, couldn’t hear motorists and passers-by screaming at him in his bulletproof, soundproof booth on the bridge.

Burnes told police he didn’t see the woman when he raised the bridge over the Miami River to test the span.

“She panicked up there and froze, instead of trying to run back down,” police spokesman Angel Calzadilla said.