Death Toll Rising As River Bridge Falls 50 - 100 cars believed to be on the bridge.
As many as 10 cars are lodged in the river due to the accident occurring at the height of rush hour traffic.
As the sun sets and thunder and lightening moves into the area, at least seven people are confirmed dead after an interstate bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed Wednesday evening, plunging cars and chunks of concrete into the chilly water.
A major artery connecting the twin cities of St Paul and Minneapolis, the accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. and started as a big dust-up. Witnesses said that the magnitude of the horrific site was indescribable.
As the sun sets and thunder and lightening moves into the area, at least seven people are confirmed dead after an interstate bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed Wednesday evening, plunging cars and chunks of concrete into the chilly water.
A major artery connecting the twin cities of St Paul and Minneapolis, the accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. and started as a big dust-up. Witnesses said that the magnitude of the horrific site was indescribable. Lt. Amelia Huffman of the Minneapolis Police Department told CNN affiliate KARE it was "not clear at this point what caused the collapse" of the Interstate 35W bridge near University Avenue and the University of Minnesota.
"We have personnel there in the rescue effort," she said. "I have never seen anything remotely like this before."
Shortly after the collapse, a tractor trailer was burning on the bridge. Rescue workers are using boats to help remove people from the water, bringing them up on the river bank.
The Twins baseball game is still taking place to prevent drivers from pouring on the roads, or those who want to catch a glimpse of the bent, twisted 40 year old steel-arch bridge that appears as if it's been bombed.
Aerial footage showed the middle of the bridge caved in, lying in the Mississippi River, with cars both on top and submerged in the water.
The main part of the collapsed span is not submerged, but the span clearly separated from the land-based sections of the highway on both the north and south ends of the bridge. No word of what caused this unbelievable tragedy.
"I heard this massive rumbling and shaking basically and looked out my window," Lacroix said. "It just fell right into the river."
He said there had been construction work on the bridge in recent weeks. Reports from governmental officials are indicating that this disaster is NOT link to terrorism.
Nighttime construction took place on the bridge Tuesday night and was to take place again Wednesday night, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation,
The highway would have been restricted to a single lane in both directions from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. both nights. Some people are stranded on parts of the bridge that weren't submerged. Survivors are being carried up the riverbank.
Developing...
Shortly after the collapse, a tractor trailer was burning on the bridge. Rescue workers are using boats to help remove people from the water, bringing them up on the river bank.The Twins baseball game is still taking place to prevent drivers from pouring on the roads, or those who want to catch a glimpse of the bent, twisted 40 year old steel-arch bridge that appears as if it's been bombed.
Aerial footage showed the middle of the bridge caved in, lying in the Mississippi River, with cars both on top and submerged in the water.The main part of the collapsed span is not submerged, but the span clearly separated from the land-based sections of the highway on both the north and south ends of the bridge. No word of what caused this unbelievable tragedy.
"I heard this massive rumbling and shaking basically and looked out my window," Lacroix said. "It just fell right into the river."
He said there had been construction work on the bridge in recent weeks. Reports from governmental officials are indicating that this disaster is NOT link to terrorism.
Nighttime construction took place on the bridge Tuesday night and was to take place again Wednesday night, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation,The highway would have been restricted to a single lane in both directions from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. both nights. Some people are stranded on parts of the bridge that weren't submerged. Survivors are being carried up the riverbank.
Developing...