FLORIDA, March 18 — The final victims have been pulled from the rubble of the collapsed bridge in Miami.

Police say they recovered five bodies yesterday after workers began removing vehicles from the wreckage.

A sixth victim died at the hospital.

Police had initially feared the death toll could be higher.

Aerial view shows a pedestrian bridge collapsed at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, March 15, 2018. — Reuters pic

Miami-Dade Police Department director Juan Perez said, "Although we expected that perhaps we may find more, thankfully we did not. So this tragedy ends with a total of six. Despite that, we’re going to go once again and make sure that there’s nobody else down there, but we’re pretty confident that no one’s left.”

Hours before the newly built pedestrian bridge collapsed at Florida International University, engineers along with state and school officials met to discuss a crack in the bridge and concluded it was not a safety concern.

About three hours later, the 950-ton bridge came crumbling down on the eight-lane roadway below.

Two days before the bridge collapsed, the engineer overseeing the project left a voicemail for a Florida Transportation Department employee to report he saw cracks in the bridge which links the university campus with the city of Sweetwater.

But his message wasn’t heard until a day after the collapse because the employee was away from the office. — Reuters