Tragedy at Rush Hour: Recovery Effort Under Way, at Least 4 Dead

A bridge collapsed in Minneapolis during rush hour, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more. An entire span suddenly broke into huge sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River. Dozens of vehicles, tons of concrete and twisted metal went crashing into the water. 

 

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Recovery efforts are under way this morning as divers begin a search for up to 30 missing people in vehicles that plunged into the Mississippi River when a Minnesota bridge collapsed during rush hour Wednesday.

At least four are confirmed dead, Minneapolis authorities announced this morning, but the exact number of fatalities remains unclear and the death toll is expected to climb as submerged vehicles are pulled from the river, a process that could take more than three days.

 

"We have a number of vehicles that are underneath concrete and we do know we have some people in those vehicles," Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said.

The bridge collapse sent an estimated 50 vehicles into the river, injuring more than 60 and leaving a horrific pile of rubble linking the Twin Cities.

The 500-foot span, part of Interstate 35W, collapsed shortly after 7 p.m. EDT as slow-moving traffic crawled along the steel arch truss bridge. Some vehicles plunged into the river while others ended up in awkward positions, battered by concrete and tangled in steel that exploded in all directions when the span gave way.

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

Nevada Torrance, of Duluth, Minn., was driving in his car with his family when the 40-year-old bridge began to go. "It was a matter of two or three drops," Torrance told ABC News. "We would drop and then pause, drop and then pause."

Dennis and Jamie Winegar and their nephew were on the bridge when it went down. "I slammed on my brakes and saw something in front of me disappear, and then my car pointed straight down and we fell," Dennis Winegar told The Associated Press. He estimated their car dropped about 50 feet.

Among the vehicles that safely came to rest on a collapsed section of the bridge was a school bus filled with children. They were seen exiting the rear of the bus; none of the children were seriously hurt.

The Coast Guard halted boat traffic on the Mississippi River for five miles to the north and south of the collapse. Roughly a dozen dive teams searched feverishly for survivors as a rescue effort turned into a recovery mission during the final hours of daylight Wednesday. Cadaver dogs were brought in to search for additional victims.

Rescue Mission Turns to Recovery

The search was called off at 11:30 p.m. EDT because of darkness and dangerous river currents. The recovery effort began at dawn.

Families gathered at the Minneapolis Holiday Inn hoping for word on missing relatives or friends. Kristi Foster said that she never wanted to see her brother Kirk — one of the missing — so much in her life. Kirk Foster's girlfriend, Krystle Webb, also had not been seen since Wednesday night.

While officials are not sure of the cause of the collapse, Department of Homeland Security officials quickly ruled out terrorism. There was a construction crew on the bridge, which was built in 1967, doing a resurfacing job that pared traffic from eight lanes to four, but it's not clear if that had anything to do with the collapse.

One construction worker remained missing late Wednesday, police said. Investigators, including a team from the National Transportation Safety Board, were expected to arrive this morning.

"Federal state and city experts are going to be looking at this span of bridge," said David Dewall of the Minneapolis Fire Department. "It is a total collapse of a significant section of the freeway. Something went wrong. We're just not going to get at it tonight."

The bridge, the state's most heavily trafficked, carries more than 100,000 vehicles each day and sits 64 feet above the river's surface, according to Chris Krueger, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

Many survivors compared the collapse and subsequent wreckage to an earthquake or the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

An estimated 60 people were taken to area hospitals for treatment. One patient died at the Hennepin County Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Clinton, the medical director of emergency services, announced Wednesday evening. An additional 28 were admitted with various injuries, six of them critical.

Seven patients were admitted to Abbott Northwestern Hospital, according to spokeswoman Nancy Ebert, and still others checked into other hospitals across the area.

According to the National Bridge Inventory on the Department of Transportation's Web site, the deck of the bridge was in fair condition, the superstructure was satisfactory and the bridge rating indicated it met currently acceptable standards. Pawlenty, the governor, said the bridge was not expected to be replaced until 2020.

But a 2001 evaluation of the bridge by the University of Minnesota's engineering department found that while its deck truss had not experienced fatigue cracking, "it has many poor fatigue details on the main truss and floor truss system." The evaluation concluded, however, that the bridge did not need to be prematurely replaced.