Aug 02 2007
Minneapolis Bridge Collapses
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Yesterday evening bumper to bumper traffic clogged up the two available lanes in the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, the bridge, which normally boasted eight lanes, had been closed down to two due to construction efforts. Motorists sat in their vehicles, slowly inching their way off the clogged bridge to their homes, unaware that in moments they would soon be plunging into the murky waters of the Mississippi river below:
MINNEAPOLIS - The entire span of an interstate bridge broke into sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening bumper-to-bumper traffic Wednesday, sending vehicles, concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water.
Hometown newspaper The Star-Tribune reported that nine people had been confirmed dead. The Associated Press put the number at seven so far. Authorities said the death toll was expected to climb.
Asked about the possibility of finding more survivors, Fire Chief Jim Clack said, “The likelihood is fairly slim.”
“This will be a very tragic night when this is over,” Mayor R.T. Rybak said.
Currently, rescue attempts have been halted this evening and will resume again tomorrow morning. The rescue attempt was halted since for the past few hours they were no longer pulling out survivors but bodies. The death toll is anticipated to rise tomorrow. This will a long night for those whose family members are still missing and unaccounted for.
What gets me is that in the wake of this tragedy I have to see this plastered in the article:
No indication of terrorism
The Homeland Security Department said the collapse did not appear to be terrorism-related. The National Transportation Safety Board planned to send a team of investigators to Minneapolis, NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said.
Not everything is tied to terrorism people! I swear, for every foul and tragic event that occurs there is always someone looking for links to terrorist cells. Hello! Sometimes things really do happen on their own without the machinations of terrorists behind them. So let’s start looking at facts please instead of jumping at shadows.
its a tragic and sad time, i work in construction and wonder why it failed, and i agree its not always terriosts
It’s truly a terrible tragedy. Wherever there are rivers, there are deaths. People never stop to think about it. We’re always so safe in thinking, “they engineered this bridge for a large river, so it won’t collapse.” When you live near a major river, you only think of it’s power when someone dies in it…
such a tragedy. and i agree that terrorism is not always the cause why things fall apart.
You know what gets me? Is the fact that people only react and take measures when something actually happens. What ever happened to preventative maintenance. The same thing with the 9-11 attacks and the powder in the mail. Nobody does anything to prevent it until it is to late.
I can only imagine the fear going through ones mind if they were on the bridge during that horrible moment in time.
God bless them all.
Mari,
I agree 100% with what you just said. We have a river where we live called the Rio Grande, which is not so big though anymore due to drought seasons and continuous irrigation not to mention Texas thinking they are entitled to large amounts of it. Because the river is not that large anymore and is known to run dry in spots no one takes it seriously until the current claims someone. Then you always read something along the lines of “but it wasn’t that deep and looked calm”.
[…] all the hullabaloo over the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse, there has been an inspection of bridges pretty much nationwide (correct Mari if she’s wrong. […]