7 leave hospital after Atlanta bridge collapse

Published 4:00 am Sunday, December 21, 2008

ATLANTA — Federal investigators were working through the weekend to start determining what caused a pedestrian bridge being built high above an Atlanta park to collapse, killing one man and leaving 11 other workers hospitalized. Seven injured workers have been released.

Contractors were pouring concrete on the “canopy walk” at the Atlanta Botanical Garden when the bridge crumbled Friday morning, sending workers hurtling up to 40 feet to the forest below. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating Saturday, but spokesman Mike Wald said it could take months to determine what happened. The 30-acre garden is set to reopen Monday.