Major bridge collapses into Mississippi River

MINNEAPOLIS — A security video across the span captures the tragedy. One second, the Interstate 35W bridge — the major link between Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. — stands upright, carrying cars and trucks between the twin cities. The next, it crumbles and slides with a crash into the Mississippi River.

At the time of this posting four people were reported dead, and over 60 injured. Officials expect the death toll to climb throughout the day, however.

There was reportedly “bumper-to-bumper” traffic on the 40 year-old bridge at the time of collapse. News footage shows tones of concrete and twisted metal, wrapped around vehicles, or floating in the river. About 50 vehicles reportedly plunged into the river or onto the ground below.

Minneapolis police Lieut. Amelia Huffman told Associated Press that at this point there is nothing to suggest that the incident was anything other than a structural collapse.

Jamie Winegar of Houston told AP she was sitting in traffic. All of a sudden she heard “boom, boom, boom and we were just dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping.”

Workers have been repairing the bridge’s surface as part of improvements along that stretch of the interstate, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper reported.

Yesterday’s incident hits home in Quebec, where last November an overpass near Laval collapsed, killing five people.

Last month, the Quebec Ministry of Transportation announced it was banning heavy loads carried on B-trains and LCVs on 135 provincial overpasses and bridges.

All the structures are said to share similarities with the Laval overpass, which was discovered to lack proper steel reinforcement.

— with files from Associated Press