Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Interstate bridge near U. Minnesota collapses
By Emily Banks
Minnesota Daily (U. Minnesota)
08/02/2007

(U-WIRE) MINNEAPOLIS — About 6:05 p.m. Wednesday the four-lane 35W bridge over the Mississippi River, about five blocks northwest of the University of Minnesota campus, collapsed. Rescue crews are on the scene.

At a Wednesday night news conference, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Ryback confirmed the death toll is now seven.

Also at the news conference, officials said they have searched 50 cars so far and are still making progress in terms of searching more.

At a later news conference, Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack said more than 60 people have been transported to hospitals, and that number is expected to rise.

"This has shifted from a rescue to a recovery mode," Clack said.

"The search will resume tomorrow at first light."

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said all survivors are off the bridge, and he also said all but one of the construction workers are accounted for.

Meagan O'Brien, 25, of Minneapolis was with her boyfriend in his apartment near 10th Avenue and University Ave S.E.

She said she heard an "incredible rumble."

"I don't know what I believed but Armageddon is here," she said.

She and her boyfriend ran to the scene to aid in rescue efforts, and O'Brien estimated the two were helping people off the collapsed bridge and out of the water within two minutes.

"People were trapped in cars," she said. "We helped haul them out of the way so they wouldn't get crushed."

She said she saw injuries including many broken legs and there was much concern about spinal injuries.

"One guy had his ear ripped off," she said.

Overall, O'Brien said, she was surprised at the relative lack of injuries appearing to be life-threatening.

"I didn't see nearly as much dramatic injuries as I thought I might," she said.

When she was there, O'Brien said there was one man and one woman she saw who were not coherent, but were still breathing. She did not see anyone who appeared dead.

For a while, O'Brien sat with a woman pinned in her car near one end of the bridge.

"We were essentially at the wall of the ravine," O'Brien said. "We were on the embankment and it was rock and sand ... She just kept saying 'I was almost across, I was almost across.'"

"We were there almost instantly," O'Brien said. "But there were already rescue workers down there ... It's always chaotic with things like this, but the City of Minneapolis did a timely and efficient job trying to get people out."

Andy Gannon, 38 of Apple Valley, almost crying but not injured described being right on the edge of the collapsing bridge. He said the bridge was packed bumper to bumper with more than 50 cars involved.

"It did a wave, it did a buckle and then I saw the middle just drop and I hit my head on the ceiling (of my car)," Gannon said.

The middle part of the bridge fell first, then the outside parts and the edges are still hanging.

"It happened in 10 seconds," he said.

It was dead silent for three or five seconds until he heard everyone screaming.

He said there was a bus full of children next to him and they were all screaming, jumping out the windows and the back of the bus, but he didn't see all of them, but didn't think any were in the water.

"I don't know man, it was just pure luck, it was surreal," he said.

Another witness, Xinlian Liu, said the Washington Avenue side of the bridge collapsed first and sounded like 20 seconds of thunder.

MnDOT spokesperson Kent Barnard said at this point they don't know what happened but they will conduct a full investigation. He also said he doesn't know whether or not this is suspicious and can't speculate if it is.

He said the workers on the bridge were doing routine, superficial concrete repairs.

"I haven't seen anything like this except on TV and I hoped I never would have to."

The injured are being taken to the University of Minnesota, Fairview clinic and Hennepin County Medical Center.

Approximately 100,000 people cross the bridge daily.

— Tiff Clements, Karlee Weinmann, Jake Grovum, Mitch Anderson, Justin Horwath, Kelly Gulbrandson, Marni Ginther and Heather Mueller contributed to this report.

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