Washington - A key Mississippi River bridge linking the twin
cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota collapse Wednesday at
the height of the evening rush hour.
Cars apparently fell into the river, the daily St Paul Pioneer
Press reported on its website. A schoolbus was reported trapped on
the damaged freeway bridge, and dozens of cars were reported on the
bridge at the time of the collapse.
There were at least three people declared dead at the scene,
according to Kristi Rollwagen, an emergency preparedness official
with the city of Minneapolis. Witness reports suggested that the
death toll would rise significantly.
A Minnesota State Police spokeswoman said that the cause of the
collapse was not immediately known, and rescue efforts were underway.
Rescue workers were using boats to try to reach some parts of the
bridge, and divers were searching the river. Dark smoke wafted over
part of the scene from a burning trailer truck, and firefighters were
using a ladder truck to try to douse the blazing wreckage.
Mobile telephone networks were reportedly overloaded in the hours
after the disaster, and authorities appealed for people to refrain
from making phone calls.
The Interstate 35W bridge is a central connection between the Twin
Cities. Part of the massive concrete structure over the middle of the
river dropped into the water, and other sections appeared to have
fallen onto railroad tracks, streets and electric power lines.
The collapse occurred about 6 pm (2200 GMT). About two hours after
the bridge fell, dusk was approaching and severe thunderstorms were
reported looming on the horizon, threatening to complicate rescue
efforts.
US Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota told the Cable News Network
(CNN) from Washington that she lives less than 2 kilometres from the
bridge. She said that there had been 'some construction in the area'
around the bridge.
The bridge is near the University of Minnesota campus, and the
local major-league baseball team, the Minnesota Twins, started a game
at the nearby Metrodome, an indoor stadium, as scheduled about an
hour after the accident.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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