Bridge collapses in Minnesota

[K9soul]

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Six people were killed when a highway bridge collapsed and hurled vehicles into the Mississippi River in central Minneapolis during evening rush hour on Wednesday, the city's mayor said.

"We have confirmed it will be a very tragic night when it is over," Minneapolis mayor R.T. Ryback told a news conference.

"Obviously this is a catastrophe of historic proportions," said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.


http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMos...23484920070802

Prayers are with them. I am hoping no one I know was in the area at the time.

[BC_MoM]

This seems very much like a freak accident! I heard on the news that there were no problems with the bridge, and that the only construction that was being done currently was resurfacing. An engineer said that in all of history, they have never seen a bridge collapse from both ends like this before.

[Hellow]

I jsut saw this thread and flipped to CNN where they was discussing this. Its just soo........wierd. It collapsed out of nowhere with nothing wrong with the bridge.

[Ginger's Mom]

Very frightening. Prayers going out to all of the people effected by this tragedy.

[pitc9]

Prayers are with them. I am hoping no one I know was in the area at the time.

How far is the bridge from you?

[K9soul]

Minneapolis is about 70 miles from here but a great many people here commute to the cities to work every day. The people I know I believe get off work early enough that they should not have been there.

They say there are 20 people missing.. More than likely having gone into the river or trapped in wreckage 60 injured.

[Alysser]

Injured is better then dead, I hope they're all OK though. 3 people dying is really just terrible. What a horrible, horrible way to die. I'll be thinking of their families.

[Catty1]

Bridge collapse rescue shifts to recovery effort

Rescuers shift to recovery effort

CTV.ca News Staff

Thu. August. 2 2007 10:05 AM ET

Emergency workers in Minneapolis have shifted their focus from searching for survivors to trying to recover the bodies after a major bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River during rush-hour traffic on Wednesday.

The collapse happened shortly after 6 p.m. local time, sending a massive cloud of dust into the sky and terrifying onlookers during the height of rush hour.

"It's a search and recovery not a rescue effort, they have changed that connotation," CNN correspondent Rusty Dornin told CTV Newsnet on Thursday.

"They don't believe there are any more survivors in the water. They did have to abandon, however, even the recovery efforts overnight. It was too dark, too dangerous, huge chunks of concrete and twisted metal."

There has been some confusion over the number of people killed in the collapse. Authorities said seven were killed, then raised the number to nine, then reduced it to four on Thursday morning.

However, at least 20 people are still missing and the death toll is expected to continue to rise as the recovery operation continues.

More than 60 people were injured and as many as 50 vehicles were in the river, and police said they believed more vehicles were submerged under water and had not yet been located.

Police Lt. Amelia Huffman said that initial reports of seven people killed were based on the best estimates authorities had last night.

Families of the missing have gathered at the site to await news of their loved ones.

"I've never wanted to see my brother so much in my life," Kristi Foster, who went to an information centre looking for her brother Kirk, told The Associated Press. She had not heard from her brother or his girlfriend, Krystle Webb, since the previous night.

With little light available and twisted metal covering the riverbed, divers were forced to stop examining some of the wreckage until morning, and it's expected to take some time before all the bodies are recovered.

"They're saying this is going to be slow going," Dornin said. "Not only do you have the currents to deal with, but all the very dangerous debris in the river, concrete and chunks of steel, and they're saying it could be several days before they actually get the bodies out of the river."

The collapse happened while the bridge was under the full weight of rush-hour traffic.

"There were two lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper, at the point of the collapse. Those cars did go into the river,'' said Minneapolis Police Lt. Amelia Huffman.

Four lanes were open on the eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge at the time, while two pairs of outer lanes had been closed to repairs.

Many people were likely trying to get to the Minneapolis Twins baseball game at the nearby Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Vehicles fell into the water, along with tonnes of concrete and steel. A school bus carrying about 60 children was on part of the collapsed bridge, but the students and driver were said to have escaped without serious injuries.

Leone Carstens, who lives several blocks from the bridge, was at home when the collapse occurred.

"There was this roar, I guess you would call it. I walked out to the other room and looked out the window and it was gone. It had already happened," she told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday.

Melissa Hughes, 32, narrowly survived when her car dropped several feet along with the western edge of the bridge.

"You know that free-fall feeling? I felt that twice," she told The Associated Press.

A truck landed on top of her car, heavily damaging part of the roof. But somehow Hughes escaped without any injuries.

"I had no idea there was a vehicle on my car," she said. "It's really very surreal."

In Washington, the U.S. Homeland Security Department said it had no indications the collapse was linked to any terrorist act, but was more likely the result of a structural failure.

The 160-metre-long, 40-year-old bridge links Minneapolis and adjacent St. Paul, spanning the Mississippi River.

Workers had been conducting work recently to repair the bridge's surface. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., told CNN that the bridge had been structurally inspected three years ago and received a clean bill of health.

When still intact, the bridge rose about 20 metres above the river's surface. Between 100,000 and 200,000 vehicles per day are estimated to use the bridge.

With files from The Associated Press

[Pam]

Gov. Jon Corzine of NJ has just said that all NJ bridges will be inspected with 45 days. Any bridge not passing inspection will be shut down. This is very encouraging news to me particularly as I use these bridges all the time. I hope that all of the other governors follow suit.

[lvpets2002]

That was just so devastating & horrible.. I just cant even imagine how those people felt.. My Prayers to All..

[IRescue452]

You know what really really bothers me... the news had to mention terrorism about 50 times the first night when the bridge collapsed. I didn't even think of terrorism at all. Honestly, this is how that damn war gets funded, they scare people into thinking we might be under attack. If I hear the word terrorism in the story about the bridge one more time I'm going to become the freaking terrorist. You want to steal my paycheck money for taxes for your war on "terrorism"? I'll get my money's worth.

[Pam]

You know what really really bothers me... the news had to mention terrorism about 50 times the first night when the bridge collapsed. I didn't even think of terrorism at all. Honestly, this is how that damn war gets funded, they scare people into thinking we might be under attack. If I hear the word terrorism in the story about the bridge one more time I'm going to become the freaking terrorist. You want to steal my paycheck money for taxes for your war on "terrorism"? I'll get my money's worth.

Actually, terrorism is the first thing that came to my mind. They said early on that bridges and tunnels were prime targets.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

You want to steal my paycheck money for taxes for your war on "terrorism"?

If not for fundamental infrastructure, like bridges, where the heck is tax money going? Last night there was story on the local news about how many bridges in the Denver area should be replaced rather than patched up, but the "money isn't there." Huh? What the heck am I paying for it not for basic services?

I wish there was a box you could check when doing your taxes- "I would not like to fund the war with my tax dollars," or "I would like to fund the war with my tax dollars." I bet the conflict would end very shortly.

I just wish people would start to put the value of human lives above money! Sadly, this tragedy and Katrina show that just isn't the case.

[RICHARD]

You want to steal my paycheck money for taxes for your war on "terrorism"?

Hey, I'm gonna file a police report!

Dang Feds...

[Miss Z]

Oh my gosh, I can't begin to imagine what a frightening experience that must have been. My thoughts are with those families who've lost loved ones, and those that are injured.