Bridge collapses in Minneapolis!

[DawnCt1]

At least 30 people are in the water! Fox News.

 

[JennyMominRI]

At least 30 people are in the water! Fox News.

Oh my goodness...

 

[NYBlue1]

HOLY COW!!!! That is aweful, they said the bridge was filled with bikers and pedestrians as well

 

[Aisling]

I'm watching it live on the news, it's horrible!!! OMG I don't know what to say!!

 

[eclectics]

Horrible! Prayers for all those affected. CNN also has full coverage.

 

[Charade]

Holy crap!

 

[DawnCt1]

Who in the world would ever expect that! At least 6 to 8 cars in the water, perhaps more. What a nightmare.

 

[Free4Life11]

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1338294.html

I-35W bridge collapses
By Matt McKinney and Warren Wolfe, Star Tribune

Last update: August 01, 2007 – 6:48 PM

The Interstate Hwy. 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed around 6:15 p.m. today, dumping at least eight cars and a truck into the water and land below.

It was not clear how many people might be hurt or killed.

Workers have been repairing the bridge surface as part of improvements along that stretch of the Interstate.

The collapse left some cars intact on the deck of the bridge, but others tumbled into the river, according to Joe Blade, a resident of the Riverview Tower at 1920 South First St.

“The bridge is collapsed into the river,” said Blade, speaking to a reporter from his apartment in the tower. “There’s black smoke coming out from underneath it at the southern edge of the collapse.”

Another resident of the tower said she heard the bridge collapse.

“First I heard this huge roar,” said Leone Carstens. “I was at my computer. Initially I thought, Wow was that an airplane?”

The scene that greeted her when she looked out her window was “awful,” she said.

The bridge was crowded with rush hour vehicles when it collapsed, she said. Thick black smoke rose up from the bridge as at least one vehicle burned on the cement below, she said. She said she couldn’t make out vehicles in the water, but there was debris.

“It could be people in the water. It may just be stuff sticking up out of the water,” she said. “They don’t seem to be moving.”

 

[elgerber]

I am in Minneapolis, and watching it live on our local channels. It's just unbelieveable. I am in shock. Looks like more than 8 cars in the water, and several cars are under debris, a semi was crushed and burning, a school bus full of kids on a field trip on the bridge. It's awful.

 

[DawnCt1]

A school bus with more than 20 children just stopped short of disaster!

 

[alexandmaddie]

It was rush hour - bumper to bumper traffic. They are also doing construction on the bridge this summer. This is horrible.

Krista

 

[Free4Life11]

Another link - MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20079534/

Just awful! Prayers for all affected, have lots of relatives in the Twin Cities so hope they are all ok.

 

[SplshMtn99]

How does something like that happen? OMG!

 

[DawnCt1]

I am in Minneapolis, and watching it live on our local channels. It's just unbelieveable. I am in shock. Looks like more than 8 cars in the water, and several cars are under debris, a semi was crushed and burning, a school bus full of kids on a field trip on the bridge. It's awful.

I hope everyone you know is safe!

 

[OK!]

This is so weird--I just watched (like 2 days ago) an episode of Decoding Disaster (on the Discovery Times channel) re. bridge disasters. The one that stuck in my mind occurred in OK, IIRC, and happened because a barge rammed into one of the supports. The problem there (other than the obvious problem of the collapse) was that the section that collapsed was just over the arc of the bridge, so no oncoming traffic could see that the rest of the bridge was out. Witnesses said there were cars, semis, etc. all just roaring across the bridge at 70+ mph and then flying off the end of it. How horrifying.

Prayers for everybody involved. My mom's calling my uncle right now to make sure he's OK; he works in Minneapolis, but we have no idea how he commutes or anything.

 

[elgerber]

Here is a link to a local channels live coverage...
http://www.kare11.com/video/player_live.aspx

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Oh my gosh I am praying right now...

 

[YourMajesty]

Oh my...there are also cars crushed that were below the bridge.

I'm from Oklahoma and the I-40 bridge collapse was very sad. The number of cars in the water was much lower than it could have been because it happened on a Sunday morning. There was a family driving from Arkansas to Tulsa to go to the zoo that died. They found the toddlers car seat floating in the Arkansas river.

 

[pbnjrockette]

We were in Minneapolis this past week-end and crossed that same bridge.....

 

[Piecey]

This is so weird--I just watched (like 2 days ago) an episode of Decoding Disaster (on the Discovery Times channel) re. bridge disasters. The one that stuck in my mind occurred in OK, IIRC, and happened because a barge rammed into one of the supports. The problem there (other than the obvious problem of the collapse) was that the section that collapsed was just over the arc of the bridge, so no oncoming traffic could see that the rest of the bridge was out. Witnesses said there were cars, semis, etc. all just roaring across the bridge at 70+ mph and then flying off the end of it. How horrifying.

A barge hit one of our bridges here, too. Came around a bend in the river and didn't judge the turn right-- there are two bridges right around that bend (passenger and railroad). Smacked into the middle pillar of the passenger bridge. You could hear it from miles upon miles upon miles away.
Amazingly, the bridge still stands. And I cross it twice a day..