USA: Search continues for victims of Minneapolis bridge collapse

Divers continue to search the Mississippi River for victims of Minneapolis bridge collapse. The death toll from a collapsed U.S. highway bridge rose to at least five and was expected to climb more as divers felt their way through murky Mississippi waters to victims, authorities said on Friday (August 3). Rescuers spent an entire day extracting the fifth fatality from under mounds of debris, Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack said. He said another victim had died in a hospital, but the local coroner did not confirm either death. Meanwhile, divers resumed their search of submerged cars that tumbled 65 feet (20 meters) into the Mississippi River when the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed with a roar during Wednesday's evening rush hour. "Our plan is two divers in the water, teams of four, two divers in the water teams of four. The other two divers are safety divers to provide the backup and security for those folks. They will be diving about every 30 minutes, rotating through," Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said. Earlier, Stanek said there were eight people unaccounted for, but the number of missing may be higher. Divers battled swift currents, and had to feel their way in the muddy waters around twisted steel and chunks of concrete. They were assisted in their search by sonar equipment. Aerial views of the scene showed the devestation which investigators must sift through. They have already said determining a cause for the collapse would take time. Federal authorities quickly ruled out terrorism as a cause, but state and federal safety officials said inspections of the heavily travelled bridge had not shown that it was unsafe. President George. W. Bush scheduled a trip to Minneapolis on Saturday (August 4) to survey the scene.

ITN Source | August 4, 2007

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