TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Thursday marks 44 years since the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster, an event that sent shockwaves across the Tampa Bay area.
On May 9, 1980, the 19,734-ton Summit Venture freighter, got lost in fog and slammed into the bridge, tearing away a large part of the span.
Thirty-five people were killed. Most were aboard a Greyhound bus that fell into the water.
Only one person survived— Wesley MacIntire, whose truck fell onto the freighter’s deck before hitting the water below.
The bridge was demolished and the new Sunshine Skyway Bridge was finished in 1987.
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Source Agencies
