Posted on 09/16/2001 6:34:18 AM PDT by cbkaty
This is breaking now.... preliminary reports say 4 barges hit the bridge...many cars in the water...many feared dead... more to come.
Bridge to island smashed; 5 dead, others missing
PORT ISABEL, Texas (AP) -- A group of barges smashed a 160-foot section out of the only bridge leading to popular South Padre Island early Saturday and at least five people died after their vehicles plunged into the water 85 feet below.
An unknown number of people were missing. Thirteen were rescued from the Laguna Madre, part of the Intracoastal Waterway shipping route along the Gulf Coast and two were hospitalized.
Rhonda Fife stood near the four-lane bridge Saturday afternoon and said she had not heard from her 18-year-old daughter, Tiffany, since she went to the island with friends late Friday.
"Nobody called and they always call," said Fife, of Harlingen, her voice trembling.
Michael Burke, father of two sons who had gone out with Tiffany, anxiously waited with Fife.
"I just want to know where my kids are at. I hope they're all right and just can't call me," Burke said.
Five vehicles were located in the 50-foot-deep water by early afternoon and divers took pictures of their license plates for identification, said Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu.
Crews had pulled two vehicles out of the water by mid afternoon when the piling damaged by the barges toppled into the water. No injuries were reported.
"I don't know, I just raesidents, and island hotels were about 70 percent booked for the weekend. Most tourists on the island came to celebrate Mexico's Diez y Seis de Septiembre independence day.
In addition, thousands of volunteers had been expected Saturday to help with island beach cleanup, part of Adopt-A-Beach day, said local home builder Clayton Brashear.
The barges were owned by American Commercial Lines LLC of Jeffersonville, Ind., and were being pushed by a tugboat owned by Brown Water Marine Services Inc. of Rockport, said American Commercial assistant vice president Jim Adams.
They were loaded in Brownsville and destined for Tennessee, Adams said.
Officials of Brown Water Marine Service, which has operated in Texas since 1987, did not return repeated telephone calls from The Associated Press on Saturday.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.</font color>
If they were linked, 4 would be an accident.
Not necessarily. I'm from down that way. Depending on weather, tide, whatever, I've seen many of them get loose. Barges are always banging into bridges, because the gates are so darn narrow.
No terriorism----just some old drunk tug captain not paying attention to what he was doing. The 4 barges went way out of the channel and hit the bridge spans.
Clearly an accident.
dep
By LYNN BREZOSKY, Associated Press
PORT ISABEL, Texas (September 15, 2001 09:24 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - A group of barges smashed a 240-foot section out of the only bridge to popular South Padre Island early Saturday. At least four people were killed after their vehicles plunged into the water 85 feet below.
An unknown number of people were missing. Thirteen were rescued from the Laguna Madre, part of the Intracoastal Waterway shipping route along the Gulf Coast, and three were hospitalized.
Five vehicles were located in the 50-foot-deep water and divers took pictures of their license plates for identification, Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu said. The sheriff said as many as 10 vehicles could be in the water.
Rhonda Fife stood near the four-lane bridge Saturday afternoon and said she had not heard from her 18-year-old daughter, Tiffany, since she went to the island with friends late Friday.
"Nobody called and they always call," said Fife, her voice trembling.
Michael Burke, whose two sons had gone out with Tiffany, anxiously waited with Fife.
"I just want to know where my kids are at. I hope they're all right and just can't call me," Burke said.
Recovery efforts were suspended late Saturday afternoon when the third 80-foot section of the bridge collapsed, said Adrian Rivera, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. The search will resume Sunday morning.
The Coast Guard was notified around 2:30 a.m. that the tug Brown Water V and its four barges, loaded with coiled steel and phosphate, had struck the 2.37-mile-long span, the longest bridge in Texas. None of the cargo spilled.
The crash dropped two adjacent 80-foot segments of the Queen Isabella Causeway into the channel near the center of the span.
The tug operator was questioned and passed a sobriety test, officials said.
Three people died at the scene, and a fourth died at a hospital. One victim was identified as Port Isabel Fire Marshal Robert Harris, said Desi Najera, an emergency management coordinator.
One man was hospitalized in guarded condition, and two of the injured were in good condition.
The state hired two boats to serve as ferries, and was considering bringing a state-owned vehicle ferry from Corpus Christi, said Randall Dillard of the Texas Department of Transportation.
South Padre Island has 2,000 permanent residents, and island hotels were about 70 percent booked for the weekend. Most tourists on the island came to celebrate Mexico's Diez y Seis de Septiembre independence day.
In addition, thousands of volunteers had been expected Saturday to help with beach cleanup, part of Adopt-A-Beach day, local home builder Clayton Brashear said.
The island is a Spring Break mecca, when crowds of up to 200,000 students stay on the island or in nearby cities.
The barges were owned by American Commercial Lines LLC of Jeffersonville, Ind., and were being pushed by a tugboat owned by Brown Water Marine Services Inc. of Rockport, said American Commercial assistant vice president Jim Adams.
They were loaded in Brownsville and destined for Tennessee, Adams said.
Officials of Brown Water Marine Service did not return repeated telephone calls from The Associated Press on Saturday.
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