Hey, there! Log in / Register
Mass. Ave. bridge shut after woman jumps into river, dies
By bostonzest on Thu, 10/20/2011 - 6:45am
UPDATE: Authorities make ID.
Officials shut the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge this morning after a woman jumped into the river from the Boston side shortly before 6:45 a.m. Emergency workers in a boat recovered her body about an hour later near the bridge.
State Police reported state troopers and the State Police marine unit, along with the Boston Fire Department raced to the bridge after witnesses reported seeing the woman jump. Massport also sent a team and boat.
The Suffolk County District Attorney's office identified the woman only as "young" - she was not carrying any identification.
The bridge was re-opened after her body was recovered, but delays from the closure apparently radiated outward to the BU Bridge, which became completely gridlocked by 8 a.m. At 8:20, Laurie tweeted:
On the 47 [bus], in the rotary at the BU bridge. Driver letting people off he bus because, well, we're going to be stuck here a while.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
I would not have thought such
I would not have thought such a fall would be fatal.
I'm going to take a guess
I'm going to take a guess that she either whacked her head off of a support when she fell or that she drowned once she was in the water, I don't think the fall into the water is anywhere near enough force here.
Another Guess
This was her intended outcome.
Regardless, this is sad for all involved - friends, family, rescuers, witnesses. I will never shake the experience of having found such a person's body in the river during an early morning crew workout. I suspect others in her life and involved in this incident will be similarly marked.
Whatever the cause
this is certainly very sad for the woman and her family. Sad.
Shallow
The water can be quite shallow at the Boston end of the bridge. She could have hit her head on the bottom. Sad story, regardless of how....
Harvard Bridge, not Mass Ave Bridge
There ain't no such thing as a "Mass Ave Bridge."
It's called the Harvard Bridge, even though it's located next to MIT.
Technology Bridge
That liberal arts school you mention is a couple of miles up Chuck River.
See also "Smoot Bridge".
It's a bridge that's part of Mass Ave
But glad you're nitpicking on the important stuff.
The bridge was there before
The bridge was there before MIT was. And many people know it as the Mass Ave bridge.
Wrong.
The bridge was started in 1887 and finished in 1891. MIT was established in 1861. They just had their sesquisentennial aka 150th anniversary. Yes, it's official name is the Harvard Bridge, but not many call it by that name. Most refer to it as the Mass Ave Bridge.
Actually ...
The Harvard Bridge was torn down in the mid 1980s, if you want to be pissy about it.
MIT was in Copley Square, and moved to Cambridge early in the 20th century.
True but MIT's campus was in
True but MIT's campus was in the Back Bay when it was founded and did not move to Cambridge until 1916.
Wrong. MIT didn't move to
Wrong. MIT didn't move to Cambridge till 1916. Before that it had been in the new Back Bay.
only on this website do you
only on this website do you see pissing matches to see who can out-local everyone else on an article about a dead girl.
the bridge has many names, something called "Harvard" could be named after other things besides the school, MIT has been around a long time and has been on both sides of the river-- just google it or look at wikipedia and edify yourselves.
and the funny part is that
and the funny part is that none of the people arguing here are actually originally from here.
Like that matters
how??
I've probably lived here longer than you have been alive.
Much longer than that poor woman who died this morning.
I've probably lived here longer than you have been alive.
Try to remember that next time you go spouting off about "Massholes"
Not wrong
Yeah, but MIT wasn't "there", it was somewhere else. Hence me saying that the bridge was there before MIT was.
Also, the bridge's proximity to Harvard isn't relevant, since it isn't named after the university.
Name that bridge
Of course as the joke goes, when it was build an MIT engineer took a look and said "Sure, you can call it the 'Harvard Bridge'." This one was making the rounds in the 80s when the darned thing had to to be completely rebuilt. :)
To the person who said
To the person who said there's no such thing as a Mass Ave. bridge, you stand corrected. The 3 bidges which separate Boston and Cambridge are:
Longfellow Bridge
Mass Ave. Bridge
B.U. Bridge
Other bridges separating Boston and Cambridge
You forgot:
Craigie Bridge
River St Bridge
Western Ave Bridge
John W Weeks Pedestrian Footbridge
Anderson Memorial Bridge
Eliot Bridge
somebody died does it really
somebody died does it really matter what the bridge is called and aint no such thing is not even proper english
It's the Mass Ave bridge, damnit!
Sheesh, this is turning into one of those"get a life, people" threads.
It's the Mass Ave bridge, always has been, always will be. Boy, wait til someone jumps from the Longfellow, I can see the debates then.
whoops...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Bridge
Longfellow?!
That's the Salt-and-Pepper Bridge!
bridge
Okay so people have.nothing better to do then go back and fourth about a bridge who cares about the name of the bridge there was a very bad incident and unfortunely not a very good outcome no one knows what really happened that morning so people don't know if the women intended on committing suicide so let her rest in peace and let her family greive at this time its silly about what is being said about the bridge its a bridge who cares so have a good weekend
thank you Nikki,
thank you Nikki, she happened to be a friend of mine its tragic and i cant believe that people are arguing over what the bridge is called most streets and bridges in Boston have more than one name anyway and NO none of her friends or her family care about what its called,they just trying to understand why this happened my prayers are with her family
Go be with her friends and family
I'm not going to say this to be callous or rude, but this isn't the funeral home's guestbook. The people commenting on the bridge name didn't necessarily know her. They may have been drawn to the story but seen something that interested them come up for discussion (like "what's the correct and common names of the bridge near MIT?"). That doesn't make them wrong for wanting to hold their discussion.
What happened with your friend is sad. You should deal with that...but complaining at others for having other things to discuss may not be the best way. Good luck to those she knew.
Are you really serious?
I can see where your coming from Kaz, but I did not know her and I would never be so rude to argue about what a bridge is called, when something so tragic like this happens. Its called having manners and being respectful to others to who are grieving. If you really want to know about a bridge name, just google it, but don't be so rude to have a conversation about such a stupid thing!
You need to put your self in their shoes and see how you would feel if that was your friend or family member, and all other people did was talk about the name of a bridge. Literally, I would be angry with the fact that people are just so cruel to talk about a stupid bridge name.
People need manners!
In their shoes?
I wouldn't be bickering with people on a blog.
Manners have nothing to do with it. Arguing about what things are named in Boston is a running theme on this blog. See elsewhere for helmet and fixie controversy, endless diatribes about where exactly the South End ends, and why Swirly knows so damn much. Any one of these might pop up in a thread whose initial post refers to a personal tragedy.
And that's the key - personal tragedy. This is not a personal place, not yours and not any family's. It's a public place. If you want to restrict what people talk about, do that in your personal place. Nobody's busting into anybody's wake here with an argument about the Harvard Bridge. Don't imagine you can make this blog into the site of your wake, either.
Condolences to the family.