Tragedy In The Twin Cities

One of the Twin Cities' major bridges suddenly turned into a scene of horror Wednesday evening, making a strange noise, breaking into huge sections of concrete and twisted metal and sending a thick cloud of dust into the air as it collapsed into the Mississippi River.

Authorities say dozens of cars were pitched into the water below, at least four people were killed, and over 60 others were injured, some critically.

The confirmed death toll was previously listed at seven, though Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack said the death toll could rise. "We think there are several more vehicles in the river we can't see yet," said Clack.

Rescuers, however, have given up hope of finding any more survivors.

"At this point it is a recovery effort," said Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, said early Thursday after rescue attempts were abandoned for the night because of the dangers of the operation.

Friends and relatives of the unaccounted have gone from hospital to
hospital trying to find out information and hoping to get good
news, CBS' The Early Show correspondent Tracy Smith reported.

Some are waiting for news in a crisis center set up at a nearby hotel. "I've never wanted to see my brother so much in my life," said one woman, as she waited for word at the Holiday Inn. "I'm overwhelmed with not knowing. I want to see my brother, and my son wants to see his uncle."

The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, which links Minneapolis and St. Paul, was in the midst of repair work and had several lanes closed at the time of the 6:05 p.m. collapse.

"I knew right away it was going down," survivor Bernie Toivonen told The Early Show.

"I was so lucky. I didn't get hurt," he said.

CBS station WCCO-TV reported the maintenance project began about nine months ago to repair potholes and other concrete on the bridge. Both a city spokesperson and the main contractor for the repair job say it was not structural in nature.

Tom Sloan of Progressive Contractors says 18 of their workers were on the bridge when it came down, and one is still missing. "They basically rode the bridge down to the water. They were sliding into cars and cars were sliding into them," says Sloan.

The arched bridge, built in 1967, was about 64 feet above the river. WCCO reported the span is noted for the design feature of having been built with a single 458 foot long steel arch, avoiding the use of piers in the water which could impede river navigation.

"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. "At this point there is nothing to suggest that this was anything other than a structural collapse."

Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke also said the collapse does not appear to be terrorism-related.

Dozens of vehicles were scattered and stacked on top of each other amid the rubble. Local television stations showed video of injured people being carried up the riverbank. Dozens of rescue vehicles were at the scene, including boats in the water. Emergency workers climbed down the shattered roadway to reach stranded motorists and divers searched the river.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation team has been dispatched to Minneapolis.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says the bridge was inspected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2005 and 2006 and no immediate structural problems were noted.

"There were some minor things that needed attention," Pawlenty told reporters at a Wednesday night news conference. "They notified us from an engineering standpoint the deck might need to be rehabilitated or replaced in 2020 or beyond."

Jamie Winegar of Houston said she was sitting in traffic when all of a sudden she started hearing "boom, boom, boom and we were just dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping."

The car she was riding in landed on top of a smaller car but did not fall into the water. She said her nephew yelled "'It's an earthquake! and then we realized the bridge was collapsing."

A burning truck and a school bus clung to one slanted slab. The bus had just crossed the bridge before it crumpled into pieces, and broadcast reports indicate the children on the bus exited out the back door.

CBS News correspondent Drew Levinson reported some of the children were injured.

Christine Swift's 10-year-old daughter, Kaleigh, was among those on the bus, which was returning from a field trip. She said her daughter called her about 6:10 p.m.

"She was screaming 'The bridge collapsed!'" said Swift.

"My truck got completely torn in half," Gary Bavanaugh told WCCO. Bavanaugh said he was headed northbound on I-35W when he heard rumbling and he saw a huge cloud of white dust. "The bridge started shaking and it went down fast."

Melissa Hughes, 32, of Minneapolis said she was driving home across the bridge when she went down with the western edge as the span caved in.

"You know that freefall feeling? I felt that twice," said Hughes, who was not injured.

A pickup ended up on top of her car, partially crushing the top and back end.

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

Ramon Houge told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he was on his way home from work on the bridge when he heard a rumbling noise, saw the ground collapse and cars go down.

Traffic was bumper to bumper, Houge recalled, with cars backing up out of harm's way. He parked in a construction zone and was finally able to turn around and drive off the bridge. "It didn't seem like it was real," he said.

The surreal feeling was also in evidence at the ballpark, where the Twins decided to go ahead with their game to keep the some 20,000 fans in place and out of the way of rescue workers. It was not, however, business as usual. The game was preceded by an announcement of the tragedy and a moment for prayer.

There will be more prayers Thursday, in services to be held in cathedrals in both Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Wednesday's collapse, which will be the focus of several investigations on the cause, is one of a number of dramatic bridge collapses in the past forty years.

In the U.S., some of the worst include: