The Statue of Liberty collapsed due to a rotted foundation

On the night of January 30, the Statue of Liberty collapsed in New York. According to preliminary data, the cause of the incident was the condition of the monument's foundation.

“The last time the Statue of Liberty was restored was in 1970. Over the past half century, the foundation simply rotted, which led to the collapse of the sculpture,” New York Deputy Mayor Robert Collins told reporters.

According to witnesses, around midnight, the statue first tilted and collapsed a few minutes later. At the same time, the body of the sculpture crumbled into hundreds of small fragments, and the head and hand sank into the bay.

“We were swimming near the monument at the time of the incident. It was just terrible, literally in 10 minutes the symbol of our country ceased to exist,” one of the eyewitnesses wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

According to the initial examination by specialists, the statue cannot be restored. According to The New York Times, the US Congress will soon consider appropriating funds for the creation of a new monument.