Authorities from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) said that at the moment they won’t be releasing the name of the companies responsible for building the bridge that collapsed in its Mexico City campus during the Sept. 19 earthquake, killing five students and injuring almost 40.
In an interview for radio station Radio Fórmula, National Vice President of ITESM Campuses Alfonso Pompa Padilla said school authorities already know who’s responsible for the construction of the collapsed bridge that connected two buildings within campus, but that they’ll keep the names to themselves for now.
This isn’t a cover up attempt, he claimed, explaining that school authorities would rather make the information public once they know all the details of what led to the bridge’s collapse. The information is expected to be complete in about two weeks, he added, and more details will be made public on Monday.
ITESM has been under heavy scrutiny by parents for its handling of the tragedy. The school addressed the matter in a statement released Thursday, 10 days after the bridge collapse, and started an investigation only after concerned parents insisted on knowing about the installations’ structural integrity.
News publication Proceso reported that around 500 parents gathered Wednesday on the campus’s sports field to object the lack of information and transparency, and demanded the investigation be done by an independent third party.
School authorities announced that classes will be resumed on Monday, Oct. 2, though they’ll be taking place in “prefabricated classrooms” and “nearby spaces.” Students will have the option of “attending” classes from home, through video calls, if they don’t feel school installations are safe. They’ll also be able to drop out temporarily, resuming studies in spring, or they can request a transfer to one of ITESM’s campuses in the states of Querétaro, San Luís Potosí or the State of Mexico.
