News / World
Rescue Efforts Turn to Recovery in Minneapolis Bridge Collapse
By Thursday morning the death toll in the collapse of the 35W bridge in Minneapolis had been set at four but now that the rescue efforts had shifted to recovery that number is expected to rise significantly.
Police Chief Tim Dolan said “We have a number of vehicles that are underneath big pieces of concrete, and we do know we have some people in those vehicles. We know we do have more casualties at the scene.”
In the midst of evening rush hour the 40-year-old bridge buckled, sending large slabs of concrete and steel 60-feet below into the Mississippi River along with the vehicles crossing. Dolan said on Thursday that the recovery of the submerged vehicles could take days as “We're dealing with the Mississippi River. We're dealing with currents. We're going to have to do it slowly and safely.”
With 20-30 people still believed to be unaccounted for the relatively low death toll of four is expected to spike today. The 35W was undergoing what was called routine repair when the structure collapsed. There were 18 construction workers on the bridge at the time of the accident, one is still unaccounted for.
