An Interstate highway bridge in downtown Minneapolis loaded with rush-hour traffic dropped more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River last night, sending at least 50 vehicles and passengers into the water.
Chief Jim Clack of the Minneapolis Fire Department said at least 7 people were killed and more than 60 were injured. The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported that 9 were dead, 20 were missing and 60 were injured.
Chief Clack said that most of the rescues were made within an hour of the collapse and that 22 of the city’s 26 fire engines responded to the scene. Fire departments from surrounding communities also responded.
“This is a catastrophe of historic proportions for Minnesota,” Gov. Tim Pawlenty said at a news conference about three hours after the collapse.
The eight-lane bridge on Interstate 35W, the main north-south route through Minneapolis, was being repaired at the time, and a witness told MSNBC that he had heard a jackhammer being used on the roadway just before the collapse about 6 p.m. Witnesses said the bridge, which was built in 1967, collapsed in three sections. One section of the bridge lay flat in the river, with cars parked on the rolling pavement.
The collapsed bridge, which was about 1,000 feet long, had been supported by a steel truss structure. Repairs were being made to the bridge’s concrete deck, guard rails and lights, state officials said.
The construction work was being done by Progressive Contractors Inc. of St. Michael, Minn. Tom Sloan, the company’s vice president for bridges, told KARE 11 television that 18 workers were on the bridge at the time of the collapse and by about 10 p.m. 17 of them had been accounted for.
Divers and rescue boats continued to search the river and the twisted wreckage of the bridge as darkness set in and rain began to fall. The Star Tribune said some people were seen floundering in the river, calling for help. The search efforts were suspended about midnight and will resume at daylight.
Leah R. Fulin, 16, of Minneapolis, had just crossed the bridge and was on the Washington Avenue exit when it collapsed behind her.
“Most of the cars that were on the bridge went into the river,” she said. “There was a whole bunch of smoke when concrete breaks like that. There were people screaming.”
Janet Stately was returning from Duluth, Minn., and had decided to take an adjacent bridge to avoid traffic when the collapse occurred.
“I heard an awful noise and saw what looked to me like a piece of the freeway just going down flat,” Ms. Stately said. Then she said she saw the road collapse into a V and cars rolling into the river. “I clearly recall horns honking. I was screaming. We were trying to call 911 on our cellphones.”
Television stations showed a school bus on one section of the collapsed slab, but the back door was open and no passengers were visible. Red Cross officials said 60 children were taken off the bus, 10 of whom had injuries that were treated at city hospitals. A column of smoke curled up from a tractor-trailer near the bus.
“I saw a lot of crying,” Courtney Johnson of the Red Cross told CNN. “Some of the older children were comforting the younger children.” The children were 4 to 12 or 13 years in age, Ms. Johnson estimated.
Berndt Toivonen, 51, of Minneapolis, told The Star Tribune he had been on his way home from a painting job when the bridge collapsed beneath his car.
“The bridge started to buckle,” Mr. Toivonen said. “It went up and it came down. I thought I was going to die.” He was uninjured, but he said people around him, some injured, were screaming in their cars. He told MSNBC that he helped some other people off the bridge.
Dr. Joseph Clinton, chief of emergency medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, said six patients at the hospital had critical injuries and 22 had injuries that were not considered life threatening. There was one drowning fatality, Dr. Clinton said.
“This is a very busy bridge,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, whose home is nearby. “It’s really right in the heart of the city,” Ms. Klobuchar told CNN. “Thousands of commuters use this bridge every day.” |
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发表于 2007-8-2 21:28
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