Minneapolis bridge collapses amid rush hour

[Kristina]

  7 dead as Mississippi River bridge falls amid rush hour in Minneapolis
Story Highlights
NEW: Fire chief: Search operations have ended for night, will resume in morning

At least 7 people dead after collapse; at least 60 injured, chief says

No indication that terrorism played role, Department of Homeland Security says

Cause of collapse unknown

     
(CNN) -- At least seven people were killed when an interstate bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed Wednesday evening, in what the governor called a "catastrophe of historic proportions."




Mark Lacroix photographed the collapsed bridge from his apartment window.

more photos »  The accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) when dozens of cars were on the bridge.

Witnesses described a "dust cloud" as it collapsed, sending cars and and chunks of concrete plunging into the Mississippi River below.

At least 60 people were taken to local hospitals, according to Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack.  See photos of the disaster »

All survivors have been taken off the bridge, said Minneapolis police Chief Tim Dolan during a news conference Wednesday night. Crews have searched 50 cars and will be looking for more possible victims, but the mission has changed from a rescue to a recovery mode.

"We have confirmed that this will be a very tragic night when it is over," said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.

Recovery operations have ended for the night because conditions became dangerous for workers as darkness set in. "There's too much debris in the river to continue in the river tonight. We will at first light be back in the river working again," Clack said.

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KARE: I-35W bridge near University Avenue collapses
Survivors, witnesses tell of escapes
Mark Lacroix, who lives on the 20th floor of an apartment building near the bridge, told CNN he saw the last seconds of the collapse.

"I heard this massive rumbling and shaking basically and looked out my window," Lacroix said. "It just fell right into the river."  Watch Lacroix describe the collapse »

Another witness was walking on a pedestrian bridge nearby when he saw the disaster.

"There were several cars completely just crushed. ... I saw some policeman walk up to the drivers' windows and look and and kept walking on by, so either the person was deceased or not in the car," Joe Costello said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it saw no indications of terrorism in the incident.

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.

More Information
To inquire about victims or missing persons, call the American Red Cross Twin Cities Area Chapter at (612) 871-7676. The bridge was undergoing redecking work, but nothing structural was being done, U.S. Transportation Department spokesman Brian Turmail said.

There were eight construction workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and one of them is unaccounted for, said Mike McGray, president of Progressive Contractors, the company doing the repair work on the bridge.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said inspections of the 40-year-old bridge in 2005 and 2006 found no structural defects, but a 2001 study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation found "several fatigue problems" in the bridge's approach spans and "poor fatigue details" on the main truss.

The study suggested that the design of bridge's main truss could cause a collapse if one of two support planes were to become cracked, although it allowed that a collapse might not occur in that event. But, the study concluded, "fatigue cracking of the deck truss is not likely" and "replacement of the bridge ... may be deferred."

After the collapse, the nearby University of Minnesota Medical Center received "just a handful" of injuries from the accident, spokesman Ryan Davenport said.

"One of our hospitals has five patients so far, and the other on the other side of the river has none," he said.

Nancy Ebert of Northwestern Hospital said it had received four injured people -- two children and two adults.

Dr. Joseph Clinton, chief of emergency medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, said the hospital is treating 28 injured people, six of them critically hurt.

He also said the hospital received one patient who was pronounced dead on arrival. "We have one drowning victim here, and I believe there are more drowning victims at the scene," he said.

Witnesses told CNN a school bus filled with children was on the bridge when it collapsed, but they also said the bus did not drop into the water and it appeared that all the children had been evacuated.

Jeff Pearson, regional vice president of First Student, Inc. -- which handles school buses in Minneapolis -- said that about 60 children, plus teachers, chaperones and a driver, were on the bus and that all were accounted for.

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 was 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.

A witness said it looked like "toy cars" were plunging into the water.

"I heard a terrible noise, and then I looked. It seemed like a piece of the bridge was pancaking and going down," said Janet Stately. "I said, 'Did we really see that? Did we really see that?' and it was unbelievable."

About 100,000 cars a day travel over the bridge, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bridge.collapse/index.html

[Kristina]

Survivors, witnesses tell of escapes from Minneapolis bridge collapseStory Highlights
Some swam to safety, others leaped from their cars over gaps of asphalt

Witness Peter Siddons he heard "crunching" as bridge collapsed

School bus filled with children was caught on bridge

An interstate bridge in Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour; at least 7 dead
     
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Some dropped with the collapsing bridge into the waters of the Mississippi River and swam to safety, while others leaped from their cars over yawning gaps of asphalt to solid ground.



 
Vehicles are scattered along the broken remains of the Interstate 35W bridge.

 1 of 2 more photos »  Survivors and witnesses cried and hugged each other as rescue crews tried to save who they could and gauge the scope of the catastrophic collapse of the eight-lane bridge. At least seven people died.

Dennis Winegar of Houston, Texas, said he felt the Interstate 35W bridge start to shake. "I slammed on my brakes and saw something in front of me disappear and then my car pointed straight down and we fell." He estimated they dropped about 50 feet.

"I just reacted, put my foot on the brakes and started praying we didn't flip over," he said. "When I got out ... there was a car lodged underneath me and one right next to me."

His wife, Jamie Winegar, said everyone around them got out of their cars and tried to help each other off the bridge. "There were a bunch of people right around there helping everyone. Angels is what I call them."  See the twisted remains of the bridge »

Peter Siddons was on his commute home north when he heard "crunching" and saw the bridge start to roll and then crumple, he told the Star Tribune. "It kept collapsing, down, down, down until it got to me."

His car dropped with the bridge but stopped when his car rolled into the car in front of him. He got out of his car, jumped over the crevice between the highway lanes and crawled up the steeply tilted section of broken bridge and jumped to the ground.  See where it happened »

"I thought I was dead," said the senior vice president at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. "Honestly, I honestly did. I thought it was over."

Caught on the span was a school bus filled with children on their way back from a day of swimming, said Ryan Watkins, one of the children. He said the bus bounced twice and stopped, its front door wedged against a concrete traffic barrier. They fled through the rear door.  Watch a witness describe what he saw from his window »

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KARE: I-35W bridge near University Avenue collapses
A truck driver from Georgia, Charles Flowers, saw the collapse from banks of the Mississippi River. Instantly, the water was filled with floating cars and people -- injured, dazed -- asking for help, he said.

He and several others ran down the riverbank and he pulled a woman from the water. He said he thought she did not survive. "I never thought I'd see anything like this," he told the newspaper.


Catherine Yankelevich survived the 1994 earthquake in Northridge, California, and was on the I-35W bridge when it began to shake. "Cars started flying and I was falling and saw the water," she said. Her car wound up in the river so she climbed out the driver's side window and swam to shore uninjured.

"It seemed like a movie, it was pretty scary," said Yankelevich. "I never expected anything like this to happen here." E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bridge.witness.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

[Penny]

Relatives hope, pray as river search continues
•   Story Highlights
•   Recovery efforts could take five days or longer, officials say
•   20 to 30 people missing, bodies trapped in debris, police chief says
•   Four killed, coroner says; 79 people injured
•   2005 study found bridge "structurally deficient"
•   Next A t c e in U.S. »
 
 
•      
M    A       Minnesota (CNN) -- Dozens of relatives waited for word of their loved ones Thursday as authorities tried to recover bodies lodged in the wreckage of   Minneapolis bridge.
 
Vehicles are scattered along the broken remains of the Interstate 35W bridge.
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As many as 50 vehicles are trapped in the rubble or in the river after the eight-lane interstate bridge collapsed during Minneapolis' evening rush hour Wednesday. Twenty to 30 people were missing, Minneapolis police Chief Tim Dolan said.
Four people were confirmed dead, and officials said at least 79 people were injured when the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River buckled.
Jessica Engebretsen, waiting near the bridge for news of her mother, asked people to pray for the missing.
Her sister, Anne, struggled to hold back the tears as she described her mom, Sherry Engebretsen, as "a fighter."
"She'll make it, she's a strong woman, she's gonna come back  ome," Anne told CNN.  Watch family try to stay positive while awaiting word on woman's fate »
Other relatives of the missing gathered at a hotel to await word from officials.
"I've never wanted to see my brother so much in my life," Kristi Foster told The Associated Press. She hadn't heard from her brother Kirk or his girlfriend since the collapse.
"We know of several people who were pinned or trapped" that have died, Dolan said.
"There's an individual case where an individual was severely injured and was talking to a medical personnel and was able to say his goodbyes to his family [before] he passed on," Dolan told a news conference.
Don't Miss
•   School bus kids survive disaster
•   Reports: Problems with Minnesota bridge noted twice
•   I-Report: Are you there? Share video, photos
•   In-depth: Deadly bridge collapse
The water below the collapsed bridge is about 7 to 8 feet deep -- just covering the roofs of the dozens of cars that are in the water, Dolan said. Watch bridge fall in four seconds /video/" \l "/video/us/2007/08/02/vosli.mn.i35w.bridg .collapse.side.view.cnn /video/" \l "/video/us/2007/08/02/vosli.mn.i35w.bridge.collapse.side.view.cnn
Dolan said he believes there may be 20 vehicles in the water that the workers cannot even see.
The bridge fell 60 feet, about six s ories, into the river.  See a diagram of the bridge »
Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek said conditions in the Mississippi River were treacherous for divers, as the twisted steel and blocks of pavement were pushed around by river currents. He said the search could go on for five days or longer.
The Hennepin County medical examiner on Thursday morning said the confirmed death toll was four, lower than the seven to nine deaths reported earlier.
President Bush on Thursday pledged federal aid to rebuild the bridge. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said $5 million was being made available immediately to pay for traffic flow adjustments and debris removal.
Investigators will try to reassemble the bridge to determine what caused the collapse, said Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Security camera video showed the Interstate 35W bridge's center section collapsing into the river in less than four seconds. The northern end of the span appeared to drop first and th  southern end followed.  Witnesses describe the chaotic scene »
CNN obtained the video from a source who asked to remain unidentified because they were not authorized to distribute it publicly.
Gary Babineau was driving his truck across the bridge as it fell.
"I could see the whole bridge as it was going down and as I was falling, and it just gave a rumble real quick, and it all just gave way, and it just fell completely all the way to th  ground," Babineau said.  See photos of the disaster »
"This particular section or freeway was under repair," Minneapolis fire Chief Jim Clack said. "We don't know yet what caused the collapse."
A school bus filled with more than 50 children who were returning from a summer field trip was among the vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed.
Tony Wagner, the president of a local nonprofit social services group that organized the trip, said eight of the kids, ages 5 to 14, were hospitalized.
More Information
Impact your world: How you can help
American Red Cross
City of Minneapolis
State of Minnesota
Mark Lacroix, who lives on the 20th floor of an apartment building near the bridge, told CNN he saw the last seconds of the collapse.
"I heard this massive rumbling and shaking ... and looked out my window," Lacroix said. "It just fell right into the river."
According to the Minneapolis Riverfront District Web site, the steel arch bridge was opened in 1967. Its longest span stretches 458 feet over the river, and it was constructed with no mid-river piers to facilitate river traffic.
The bridge was undergoing nonstructural re-decking work, U.S. Transportation Department spokesman Brian Turmail said.
A 2001 study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation found "several fatigue problems" in the bridge's approach spans and "poor fatigue details" on the main truss.
The study suggested that the design of bridge's main truss could cause a collapse if one of two support planes were to become cracked, although it allowed that a collapse might not occur in that event. But, the study concluded, "fatigue cracking of the deck truss is not likely" and "replacement of the bridge ... may be deferred."
Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory database said the bridge was "structurally deficient."
 
The bridge received a rating of 4 on a scale of 0 to 9. A bridge receives a rating of 4 when there is "advanced section loss, deterioration."
About 140,000 cars a day travel over the bridge, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.   
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this repo
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/02/bridge.collapse/index.html

[Penny]

Driver who survived bridge collapse: 'I can't believe I'm alive'
•   Story Highlights
•   NEW: "I thought I was going to die," driver says
•   Man says pickup truck was folded in half; he just has cut on face
•   Driver: "I probably had a 30-, 35-foot free fall"
•   Minnesota bridge collapsed during rush hour Wednesday
•   
 
 
•        
•      
•      
•      
 
     
 INNEAPOLIS   innesota (CNN) -- Drivers who were on the Minneapolis bridge when it collapsed told harrowing tales of survival.
 
Melissa Hughes, left, was driving the red car in the background when the bridge collapsed.
more photos » 
"The whole bridge from one side of the Mississippi to the other just completely gave way, fell all the way down," survivor Gary Babineau told CNN. "I probably had a 30-, 35-foot free fall. And there's cars in the water, there's cars on fire. The whole bridge is down."
He said his back was injured but he determined he could move around.
"I realized there was a school bus right next to me, and me and a couple of other guys went over and started lifting the kids off the bridge. They were yelling, screaming, bleeding. I think there were some broken bones."  Watch a driver describe his narrow escape »
At home when he heard about the disaster, Dr. John Hink, an emergency room physician, jumped into his car and rushed to the scene in 15 minutes. He arrived at the south side of the bridge, stood on the riverbank and saw dozens of people lying dazed on an expansive deck.
They were in the middle of the Mississippi River, which was churning fast, and he had no way of getting to them. He went to the north side, where there was easier access to people. Ambulances were also having a hard time driving down to the river to get closer to the scene.
Working feverishly, volunteers, EMTs and other officials managed to get 55 people into ambulances in less than two hours. Occasionally, a pickup truck with a medic inside would drive to get an injured person and bring him back up even ground, Hink told CNN.
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•   In Depth: Deadly bridge collapse
The rescue effort was controlled and organized, he said; the opposite of the lightning-quick collapse.
"I could see the whole bridge as it was going down, as it was falling," Babineau said. "It just gave a rumble real quick, and it all just gave way, and it just fell completely, all the way to the ground. And there was dust everywhere and it was just like everyone has been saying: It was just like out of the movies."
Babineau said the rear of his pickup truck was dangling over the edge of a broken-off section of the bridge. He said several vehicles slid past him into the water.
"I stayed in my car for one or two seconds. I saw a couple cars fall," he said.
"So I stayed in my car until the cars quit falling for a second, then I got out real quick, ran in front of my truck -- because behind my truck was just a hole -- and I helped a woman off of the bridge with me.
"I just wanted off the bridge, and then I ran over to the school bus. I started grabbing kids and handing them down. It was just complete chaos."
He said most of the children were crying or screaming. He and other rescuers set them on the ground and told them to run to the river bank, but a few needed to be carried because of their injuries.  See rescuers clamber over rubble »
Babineau said he had no rescue training. "I just knew what I had to do at the moment."
Melissa Hughes, 32, of Minneapolis, told The Associated Press that she was driving home when the western edge of the bridge collapsed under her.
"You know that free-fall feeling? I felt that twice," Hughes said.
A pickup landed on top of her car, but she was not hurt.
"I had no idea there was a vehicle on my car," she told AP. "It's really very surreal."
Babineau told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "On the way down, I thought I was dead. I literally thought I was dead.
"My truck was completely face down, pointed toward the ground, and my truck got ripped in half. It was folded in half, and I can't believe I'm alive."  See and hear eyewitness accounts »
 
Bernie Toivonen told CNN's "American Morning" that his vehicle was on a part of the bridge that ended up tilted at a 45-degree angle.
"I knew the deck was going down, there was no question about it, and I thought I was going to die," he said. After the bridge settled and his car remained upright, "I just put in park, turned the key off and said, 'Oh, I'm alive,' " he said. E-mail to a friend 
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/02/bridge.survivors/index.html

[Penny]

Survivors describe terror as bridge collapsed•   Story Highlights
•   "It was pretty scary," says survivor whose car dropped into Mississippi River
•   Visitors from Texas fell 50 feet in their rental car, landed on another car
•   Construction workers, cars, slid down broken span into water
•   Bridge collapse at rush hour kills at least four people
•   Next Article in U.S. »
 
 
     
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- Dennis and Jamie Winegar were driving across the Mississippi River, stuck in the late rush-hour traffic, when they felt the bridge beneath them start to shake.
 
Melissa Hughes, who was driving the red car, holds a baby Wednesday after the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis.
more photos » 
The visitors from Houston, Texas, were among the survivors of Wednesday's collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge near downtown Minneapolis. Their car landed on top of a smaller car.
Jamie Winegar said she suddenly started hearing "boom, boom, boom and we were just dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping."
She said her nephew yelled, "'It's an earthquake!' and then we realized the bridge was collapsing." Watch driver describe 30-to-35-foot freefall /video/" \l "/video/us/2007/08/02/kaye.mn.i35w.bridge.collapse.cnn /video/" \l "/video/us/2007/08/02/kaye.mn.i35w.bridge.collapse.cnn
Behind the wheel, Dennis Winegar fought to keep their rented Chrysler 300M under control.
"I slammed on my brakes and saw something in front of me disappear and then my car pointed straight down and we fell." He estimated they dropped about 50 feet.
Jamie Winegar said everyone around them got out of their cars and tried to help others off the bridge. "There were a bunch of people right around there helping everyone. Angels is what I call them."
Don't Miss
•   Search for the missing under way in bridge collapse
•   Kids on school bus survive bridge collapse
Among the other vehicles caught on the ruined span as it came to rest was a school bus filled with children on their way back from a day of swimming.
Ryan Watkins, one of the children, said the bus bounced twice and stopped, its front door wedged against a concrete traffic barrier. The children fled through the rear door.  Watch as driver describes skidding cars, helping kids from bus »
Catherine Yankelevich tumbled into the Mississippi River. "Cars started flying and I was falling and saw the water," she said. She climbed out the driver's side window and swam to shore uninjured.
"It seemed like a movie, it was pretty scary," said Yankelevich. "I never expected anything like this to happen here."
There were 18 construction workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse, said Tom Sloan, head of the bridge division for Progressive Contractors Inc., in St. Michael. One of the workers was unaccounted for.
Sloan said his crew was placing concrete finish on the bridge for what he called a routine resurfacing project. "It was the final item on this phase of the project. Suddenly the bridge gave way," he said.
Sloan said his workers described a horrific scene. "They said they basically rode the bridge down to the water. They were sliding into cars and cars were sliding into them," he said. Watch survivor say "I thought I was going to die" /video/" \l "/video/us/2007/08/02/am.roberts.toivonen.intvw.cnn /video/" \l "/video/us/2007/08/02/am.roberts.toivonen.intvw.cnn
Jacob Reynolds of Minneapolis, who had just returned from a family wedding out of town, was driving downtown and ready to get onto the freeway when he heard that the bridge had collapsed.
 
He said he's certified for disaster relief by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, so he ran over to see if he could help. Emergency crews were already fighting the fires.
"I realized there was nothing I could do so I continued to take pictures," Reynolds said. "I realized I couldn't capture it on film. It couldn't fit it in the camera. Some things are meant only for the eyes." E-mail to a friend 
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/02/bridge.witnesses.ap/index.html

http://www.wftv.com/news/13804231/detail.html

[Kerry Lenzendorf]

Seventh body pulled from bridge site

Story Highlights
NEW: Divers recover seventh body from water

NEW: Newly discovered victim not publicly identified

NTSB checks integrity of plates that connect trusses

States warned to watch weight stress during bridge projects

Next Article in U.S. »


 Read  VIDEO  PHOTOS INTERACTIVE
     
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- Searchers found two more bodies Thursday in the wreckage of the collapsed Mississippi River bridge, bringing the death toll to seven.

 

Engineers inspect gusset plates under a bridge in Wisconsin that is similar to the bridge that collapsed.

 1 of 2 more photos »  As many as six people are still missing, authorities said.

Crews have been searching the site for the past week since the August 1 collapse.

Hennepin County Sheriff's Office found the sixth body shortly after noon.

The latest victim wasn't immediately identified.

As the recovery operation continued, so did the investigation.

On Wednesday, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said they had found design flaws in gusset plates, which helped tie the bridge's steel beams together.  See a diagram of the bridge's structure »

J. Richard Capka, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, said the agency would quickly advise transportation agencies around the country of steps they should take if a systemic problem with gusset plates is found. He said no such advisory was in the works yet.

"Gusset plates have been around a long time, and they've been a reliable feature, and we have no indication that they've ever been part of a suspect bridge problem or a bridge failure before," Capka said Thursday.

"They have not concluded that they've discovered anything specific that might have contributed to the collapse," he added.

Officials of the Minnesota Department of Transportation wouldn't comment on the significance of the gussets in the bridge's collapse.

The list of people -- all Minnesotans -- confirmed missing and feared dead in the bridge collapse include a woman and her young daughter. The eight have been identified as Christine Sacorafas, 45, of White Bear Lake; Vera Peck, 50, and her son Richard Chit, 20, both of Bloomington; Greg Jolstad, 45, of Mora; Peter Hausmann, 47, of Rosemount; Sadiya Sahal, 23, of St. Paul, and her 2-year-old daughter, Hanah; and Scott Sathers, 29, of Maple Grove.  See photos of bridge memorials »

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters also advised states to consider the additional stress placed on bridges during construction projects.

An 18-person crew was working on the Interstate 35W span when it collapsed last week during evening rush hour.  Watch 'traffic cam' video of the chaos moments after the bridge collapse »

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"Given the questions being raised by the NTSB, it is vital that states remain mindful of the extra weight construction projects place on bridges," Peters said Wednesday.

On Thursday, President Bush dismissed a proposal by House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minnesota, to raise the federal gasoline tax to repair the nation's bridges. Bush said he would not support that idea until Congress changes the way it spends highway money.

"The way it seems to have worked is that each member on that (Transportation) committee gets to set his or her own priorities first," Bush said. "That's not the right way to prioritize the people's money. Before we raise taxes, which could affect economic growth, I would strongly urge the Congress to examine how they set priorities."

On Wednesday, the NTSB said helicopter observations had found several "tensile fractures" in the superstructure on the north side of the bridge, but nothing that appeared to show where the collapse began. Investigators were verifying loads and stresses on the beams, as well as materials in the plates.

NTSB investigators have also been looking into reports of wobbling before the August 1 collapse.

The company that was doing the construction work, Progressive Contractors Inc., rejected a report that a worker noticed unusual swaying of the bridge in the days before its collapse. The company said it didn't believe any of its work contributed to the bridge failure but hadn't responded directly to claims of wobbling.

"We have now met with every single worker who was on the bridge when it collapsed," Tom Sloan, vice president of the company's bridge division, said in a news release Wednesday. "None of them observed or reported any unusual swaying."

Navy divers returned to the water Thursday morning, said their spokesman, Senior Chief Dave Nagle. They had searched 25,000 square feet so far, he said.


Navy and FBI dive teams are trying to go deeper into the debris of the bridge than the local dive teams were able to go, Minneapolis police Capt. Mike Martin said Wednesday. He said it would be at least a week before cranes start regularly hauling out large pieces of debris.

Martin said a wheelchair had been retrieved from a van stranded on the broken bridge and returned it to its owner. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

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