Bridge collapses into lake after fireworks show

MERRILLVILLE – A pedestrian bridge collapse after a Fourth of July celebration in northwest Indiana sent dozens of people into the water below and injured about 25
people, authorities said Sunday.

Merrillville police said none of the injuries in the accident Saturday night were life-threatening, and no one was reported missing.

The wooden bridge collapsed about 10 p.m. at Hidden Lake Park in Merrillville, about 45 miles southeast of Chicago, as spectators were leaving a fireworks display.

Ross Township firefighter Perry Herzog told The Times newspaper of Munster that emergency workers had to rescue “quite a few people” from the water.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene, estimating that the roughly 90-foot-long bridge was full of people before it fell. Police estimated the crowd at about 10,000 people and said a preliminary investigation showed a “structural failure of the footbridge.”

“We were walking across and everybody just stopped. ... We heard two snaps, and we all went in the water,” Seth Argullin told the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana.