Bridge Collpases in Minneapolis

The I-35 W Bridge in Minneapolis collapsed at 6:05 p.m. during rush hour Wednesday. The bridge fell into the Mississippi river leaving four dead and many others injured.

Cars were in bumper to bumper traffic at the time and flew 60 ft into the water. At least fifty vehicles fell. Sixty people were taken to local hospitals.

The bridge was under construction at the time of the collapse. In 2005, the bridge was out on a list for repairs and labeled structurally deficient by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The bridge was built on 40 years ago in 1967. Yet, there was only one arch, 458 feet long, so that the bridge did not get in the way of water traffic. The bridge is 1900 feet across the river and about 60 feet tall.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced that there will be a full scale investigation into the collapse and they are currently inspecting many other bridges in order to avoid another tragedy.

Rescue operations stopped at around midnight last night. Firefighters and police do not expect to find any other survivors and are instead working on recovery.