Major Mississippi bridge collapses, drops cars into river (4th Lead)

Aug 2, 2007, 3:07 GMT

Washington - A key Mississippi River bridge linking the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota collapsed Wednesday at the height of the evening rush hour.

Several spans of the bridge crumbled, and scores of cars were wrecked on the pancaked freeway pavement or submerged in the river.

The death toll reached six late Wednesday in the collapse of a major bridge over the Mississippi in the state of Minnesota, but was likely to rise overnight, a local official said.

Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak announced that six people were known dead but cautioned that the death toll could rise significantly.

'We have concerns that this will be a very tragic night when it is over,' he said.

A schoolbus carrying as many as 60 children was wrecked next to a trailer truck that burst into flames. Reports indicated that all of the children survived, though many suffered minor to moderate injuries.

Kristi Rollwagen, an emergency preparedness official with the city of Minneapolis, said that an estimated 50 vehicles were submerged in the Mississippi. Hundreds of firefighters and other emergency workers were at work overnight, she said.

Dr Joseph Clinton of the Hennepin County Medical Centre, one of several hospitals near the scene, told broadcasters that his colleagues had seen at least one drowning fatality and were treating six people with critical injuries and at least 22 others with injuries that did not appear life-threatening.

Most patients had blunt-force injuries including head and trunk injuries, broken limbs and at least one penetrating chest wound, Clinton said.

There were numerous injuries at other hospitals on both sides of the river.

Rescue workers used boats to try to reach some parts of the bridge and submerged vehicles, and divers were searching the river.

The burning truck spewed dark smoke over part of the disaster scene during the first hours, as firefighters used a ladder truck to direct hoses to douse the blazing wreckage.

Mobile telephone networks were reportedly overloaded in the hours after the disaster, and authorities appealed for people to refrain from making phone calls.

The local chapter of the American Red Cross appealed for blood donations.

The Interstate 35W bridge is a central connection between the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. Part of the massive concrete structure over the middle of the river dropped into the water, and other sections appeared to have fallen onto railroad tracks, streets and electric power lines.

The collapse occurred about 6 pm (2200 GMT). Severe thunderstorms were looming on the horizon after nightfall, threatening to complicate overnight rescue and recovery efforts.

The steel-and-concrete bridge had carried more than 200,000 vehicles a day.

The bridge is near the University of Minnesota campus, and the local major-league baseball team, the Minnesota Twins, started a game at the nearby Metrodome, an indoor stadium, as scheduled about an hour after the accident.