Webbers Falls bridge collapse: Family remembers loved one 20 years later
On May 26, 2002, 14 people died when a barge hit the I-40 bridge in Webbers Falls, causing it to collapse into the Arkansas River.
Twenty years later, families and friends are remembering those they lost.
One family traveled from Hawaii to Oklahoma this year to see the memorial at Webbers Falls for the first time.
"I just felt like I should come here once," Shakira Tailele told 40/29 News. Her father, Paul, was killed in the collapse.
"I still think about it a lot and since he was a truck driver I just thought that he's just still out on the road," she said.
Tailele was 14 years old the bridge collapsed. He was driving back from the east coast to his home in Utah.
"I remember talking to him right before it happened," she said. "He told me that he was approaching a bridge and that he had to go, so that was the last time I heard from him."
Tailele and her daughters left a ceremonial necklace and beach globe at the memorial to honor Paul and represent the family's Samoan culture.
"My oldest is 15 so I can't imagine being that age and if I was to go, what they would do or how they would feel, but it was tragic and he's missed every day, still to this day," she said.
Paul was one of fourteen who died when their vehicles plummeted into the river.
Eleven other people were hurt.
Investigators said a towboat captain passed out, causing freight barges to collide with the pier supports of the bridge.
James and Misty Johnson and their 3-year-old daughter, Shae, all from Lavaca, were among those killed.
Shae is represented on the memorial with a statue.
A memorial service has been scheduled for Monday, May 30, at 10 a.m.
Due to flooding and the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the first time the service has been able to take place in three years.