MINNEAPOLIS - A busy highway bridge that spans the Mississippi River (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20079534/#) just northeast of Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour Wednesday, sending a school bus, other vehicles and tons of concrete crashing into the water.

The entire span of the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed about 6:05 p.m. A tractor-trailer caught fire, and flame and black smoke billowed into the sky.

Local media reported 20 to 30 injuries and one death. NBC News reported that every Minneapolis ambulance had been requested to the scene.

http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/070801/n_bridge_collapse3_070801.300w.jpg

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20079534/

Late report of 3 dead.

What a scary mess. I go over that bridge quite a bit when I'm working in the area. Makes me glad that we didn't have any work there this week.

scary.

This is just wow. I'll be very interested in finding out what they determine the reason this happened is.

I hope the incoming storm doesn't put up further hurdles.

This is just wow. I'll be very interested in finding out what they determine the reason this happened is.

I hope the incoming storm doesn't put up further hurdles.
me too i really hope everone is okay

These news people need to actually listen to the people they interview. And stop asking the same questions over and over again.

A school bus???? I pray there weren't any kids on that school bus. Although, it is sad enough there was obviously a driver.

A school bus???? I pray there weren't any kids on that school bus. Although, it is sad enough there was obviously a driver.
reportedly there were kids on the bus, but it didn't land in the water.

The kids on the school bus all survived, from the pictures it doesn't appear it was submerged(like a lot of the vehicles) which probably saved their lives.

Minneapolis mayor just confirmed 6 deaths.

Oh wow, that is great to hear. Thank you for confirming that for me. I feel so bad for those who didn't survive.

Oh, man, and Allison is moving there, isn't she?
*nervous*

Sadly one person is confirmed dead, but, it sounds as if it could havew been much worse

I live in St. Paul, and this is all people are talking about. It's just unbelievable!
I can't imagine how scary it must be to be driving across a bridge and then before you know it, you're falling about 65 feet into the Mississippi! :eek:
I feel so bad for the people who died, but with 50+ cars falling into the river, it could have been worse.
This is terrible.

From what I've been hearing about it, this is merely a crappy reconstruction job. No foul play of any kind, as some have feared.

I know of a bridge over the Susquehanna River that I've always found to be scary.

http://www.aaroadtrips.com/maryland095/i-095_sb_exit_089_03.jpg

This is none other than the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millard_E._Tydings_Memorial_Bridge)

CNN puts the count at 7 dead now, 38 injured...however, there are many cars still in the river, so thats likely to climb higher :(

I read that 20 people are missing. :(

Fire chief says there are vehicles in the water they haven't seen yet, family members gathering, not good.

Anyway, from the same report in the Star-Tribune, 9 dead, 60 injured.

Yes, I did move to the Twin Cities area today... I'm residing in a suburb 20 minutes south of Minneapolis. I heard about this before we got there (finally drove thru at 7:30pm). The storm we drove thru was terrible, I'm sure Minneapolis got hit pretty good when it finally came thru. Total chaos here.

Yes, I did move to the Twin Cities area today... I'm residing in a suburb 20 minutes south of Minneapolis. I heard about this before we got there (finally drove thru at 7:30pm). The storm we drove thru was terrible, I'm sure Minneapolis got hit pretty good when it finally came thru. Total chaos here.
Wow...ill bet! :eek:

What a terrifying ordeal!!! :eek:

i saw the footage on sky news that was beamed in the UK and it looked awful. :( it was also reported that the infrastructure of that bridge wasn't that great either. i am glad that it wasn't a terrorist related incident. i'd never thought that in a huge area in the mid-west of america, such as minnessota could experience a large scale catastrophe such as this, but i'm sure the state and its people will recover from this very quickly

This is terrible, and I get goose bumps just thinking about just driving along and suddenly you are plunging down into the Mississippi :(

I was watching CNN about 10:00 last night, and it gave the name of the relief organization (American Red Cross?) involved as ________ Twins City, as opposed to the singular Twin Cities, the term I'm used to when I think of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Hmm, are the CNN people baseball geeks?

Oh, and my deep condolences to those whose lives were affected by this bridge collapse. :crying:

Yeah, it's terrible. I actually had people texting me to see if I was ok, because they knew I was moving to the area yesterday. Luckily, I was around Alexandria, MN, at that time... KSTP 5 News has had continuous coverage on it since it happened last night.

4 dead , 30 missing? last night they had 9 confirmed deaths...5 dead people got better??? ( I love how these updated live reports can be SO off )

Yeah, it's terrible. I actually had people texting me to see if I was ok, because they knew I was moving to the area yesterday. Luckily, I was around Alexandria, MN, at that time... KSTP 5 News has had continuous coverage on it since it happened last night.
i'm glad you're ok, it did cross my mind that you'd just moved to the area.

What a horrible thing to have happen. They should have inspectors out checking on these bridges.

i know that for a fact we cannot compare this disaster to hurricane katrina as they are two completely different situations, but what we all know is that the victims of both those incidents have suffered just as much as one another. i do hope the mayor of minnesota takes swift action to address this dilemma and talk as we all say is cheap. they have to take measures to make sure this type of thing never happens again in the near future

how terrifying 9 people confirmed dead I pray for those victims and for those injured. :(

4 dead , 30 missing? last night they had 9 confirmed deaths...5 dead people got better??? ( I love how these updated live reports can be SO off )
Yeah. How exactly do 5 people suddenly live? Did they look dead to a news person??