Interstate Bridge Collapses Into Mississippi River in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 1 -- The entire span of an interstate bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour Wednesday, sending vehicles, tons of concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water.

The Interstate 35W bridge, a major link between Minneapolis and St. Paul, was being repaired when it broke into several huge sections.

"There were two lanes of traffic, bumper-to-bumper, at the point of the collapse. Those cars did go into the river," Minneapolis Police Lt. Amelia Huffman said. "At this point, there is nothing to suggest that this was anything other than a structural collapse."

The Homeland Security Department had received no indications as of Wednesday night that the collapse was related to terrorism, department spokesman Russ Knocke said in Washington.

It was not clear how many people were injured. WCCO Radio reported that one body, covered with a blue sheet, was seen being pulled from the area.

An estimated 50 vehicles plunged into the river and onto the land below, the Star Tribune reported.

A burning truck and a school bus clung to one slanted slab of concrete. The bus had crossed the bridge just before the collapse, and broadcast reports indicated that the children on the bus exited out the back door.

Ramon Houge told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he was on the bridge heading home when he heard rumbling, saw the concrete collapse and cars go down.

Traffic was bumper-to-bumper, and hundreds of people must have been involved, he said. He said that cars backed up as best they could and that 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.

Dozens of vehicles were scattered and stacked on top of one another amid the rubble. Some people were stranded on parts of the bridge that were not completely in the water.

Local television stations captured video of injured people being carried up the riverbank. Dozens of rescue vehicles were there and divers were in the water.

Gregory Wernick Sr. of Rockford, Ill., drove over the bridge shortly before the collapse. He stopped to get a drink nearby and heard commotion, so he went back.

"I figure I crossed about 10 minutes before it happened," he said. "That's just too close to call."

He was standing about 200 feet away on top of a parking ramp with a large group of people.

"I've never seen anything like this," he said.

The arched bridge, which was built in 1967, rises about 64 feet above the river. Workers have been repairing the 40-year-old bridge's surface as part of improvements along that stretch of the interstate, the Star Tribune reported on its Web site.