Breaking: Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

KSTP TV 5/ME | 8/1/07 | Me

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Just turned on the news. 35W bridge collapsed in the Mississippi River. Cars, trucks, semis.....

Fires burning, tanker trucks, at least one school bus, more than ten cars......

Just now breaking.......

[mylife]

I wouldnt doubt it!

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Shep is misreporting....as usual. "It looks like New Orleans escaped Katrina almost unscathed! They sure dodged a bullet down here."

Shep is absolutely breathless. He's not the one to be covering this. He is just a bit too emotional.

[Ramius]

Why is there a fire? Any idea?

It appeared that there was a tractor-trailer truck that hit a broken section head-on, and caught fire.

[steveo]

terrorist attach within 90 days (earlier today)

[Clara Lou]

Thanks—I hadn’t heard about those.

[Solson]

CELL Phone circuits across Minneapolis are overloaded and cell companies are requesting to stay off the phones unless necessary.

[Recovering Hermit]

Saying 50 cars in the river now.

[kcvl]

Check out the one silver car & the other red car nose down in the water to the left of the bridge!

[sweetiepiezer]

Terrible diaster. PRayers offered.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Truck tried to stop when the driver saw the roadway split in front of him. Could not stop and piled into a truck in front of it. Boom.

DOT reporting 50 cars in the river.

Bridge built in 1967.

They were working on the de-icing system on the bridge.

[Perchant]

30-50 cars in river according to kstp radio. The kids from the school bus are apparently okay according to eye witnesses but I don’t know if there was more than one bus.

[MplsSteve]

Channel 5 says that cell phone companies are asking Twin Cities residents to not use their cell phones.

[jaycee]

Don’t you suppose that there are bridges all over the United States that this could happen to, especially heavily traveled ones.

[se_ohio_young_conservative]

Correct.

If one was a superstitious person. They might see something creepy here. MinneaPOLIS, MN and GalliPOLIS, Ohio. and then they might notice that both highways over the rivers were (ROUTE 35).

1967-2007.

[Natchez Hawk]

Good Lord! Just saw the aerial shot...thoughts and prayers...

[rface]

okay.....stupid inspectors and/or lazy workers might be the culprit too.....

Where is Al Franken when we need him?

[RayChuang88]

It will be interesting to see how they rebuild this bridge. Will it become a reinforced concrete structure?

[HairOfTheDog]

Gasoline in vehicles.

OK... thanks... tuning in late and I thought it was described as a larger fire than that.

[Clara Lou]

I’m with you. Why kick Shep when there’s death and destruction before us?

[Solson]

Span is 64’ above the river and is a single span done with an arch support. No supports in the water.