Freeway collapse in Minneapolis

[cloudy]

Y'all watching this? So far, no fatalities. Amazingly lucky. Live coverage on MSNBC.

 

[only_more_so]

Y'all watching this? So far, no fatalities. Amazingly lucky. Live coverage on MSNBC.

Live coverage on a lot of channels. At least they've already said it doesn't appear to be terrorism related. Seems like every time something blows up or falls down they have to say it isn't terrorism.

 

[cloudy]

Live coverage on a lot of channels. At least they've already said it doesn't appear to be terrorism related. Seems like every time something blows up or falls down they have to say it isn't terrorism.

Sad, eh? The climate of fear in this country.

 

[impressive]

Okay, that's a major nightmare for me. I used to hold my breath going over bridges.

 

[cloudy]

Okay, that's a major nightmare for me. I used to hold my breath going over bridges.

Me too. The one that's always scared me, although it's not that high, is that long damn causeway over Ponchartrain...something like twelve miles.

I'm still watching coverage, and they're still not reporting any fatalities, only eight cars in the water, which in itself is miraculous.

 

[only_more_so]

Okay, that's a major nightmare for me. I used to hold my breath going over bridges.

I'm afraid of heights, so that's the biggest problem for me. I always stay in the center lane, and concentrate on not looking to the sides. The golden gate bridge really gets me. And when I lived on the East coast the times I drove over the Tappen Zee. Both are super high off the water.

 

[impressive]

Me too. The one that's always scared me, although it's not that high, is that long damn causeway over Ponchartrain...something like twelve miles.

I'm still watching coverage, and they're still not reporting any fatalities, only eight cars in the water, which in itself is miraculous.

Just crossed the Bay bridge -- from Annapolis to the Eastern shore of Maryland -- last weekend. Makes me WAY nervous. It's 7 miles long. I can't hold my breath that long.

 

[christabelll]

Annapolis? We're neighbors!!!

Golden Gate? Used to be neighbors

Tappan Zee = Twice a month!!!

Yep freaky driving over them.... I have a bizarre fear of HEIGHTS and WATER combined... together ... seperate not realllllllllllly a problem but together - egads -
I get white knuckled and turn into a swearing sailor praying at the same time...


And yes the climate of fear that has been deliberately induced in this country is a shame...

Prayers to those on the collapsed roadway...

 

[cloudy]

Heights don't bother me in the least; supposedly its a hereditary thing.

We don't have any AH'ers in that area, do we?

 

[3113]

Oh, Geeze! Good Gawd!

http://images.chron.com/photos/2007/08/01/7291933/311xInlineGallery.jpg http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/08/01/bridge.collapse/art.lacroix.irpt.jpg http://imgsrv.wbbm780.com/image/DbGraphic/200708/668142.jpg

(CNN) -- At least three people were killed when an interstate bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed Wednesday evening, plunging cars and chunks of concrete into the Mississippi River below.

There were "lots" of injuries, said the state Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department. The accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET). There were 50 to 100 cars on the bridge at the time, according to early estimates.

Lt. Amelia Huffman of the Minneapolis Police Department told CNN affiliate KARE it was "not clear at this point what caused the collapse" of the Interstate 35W bridge near University Avenue. "We have personnel there in the rescue effort," she said. "I have never seen anything remotely like this before."

Shortly after the collapse, a tractor trailer was burning on the bridge. Rescue workers are using boats to help remove people from the water, bringing them up on the river bank.

Aerial footage showed the middle of the bridge caved in, lying in the Mississippi River, with cars both on top and submerged in the water. Witnesses told CNN a school bus filled with children was on the bridge when it collapsed, but they also said the bus did not drop into the water and it appeared that the children had all been evacuated.

The main part of the collapsed span is not submerged, but the span clearly separated from the land-based sections of the highway on both the north and south ends of the bridge.

"I heard this massive rumbling and shaking basically and looked out my window," Lacroix said. "It just fell right into the river." Watch Lacroix describe the collapse. He said there had been construction work on the bridge in recent weeks.Nighttime construction took place on the bridge Tuesday night and was to take place again Wednesday night, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation,

The highway would have been restricted to a single lane in both directions from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. both nights

 

[cloudy]

The local station just broadcasted for all medical workers that were off to immediately report to work.

I just keep imagining how frightened those people must have been, and how frightened their loved ones are, and how frantic they probably are to find them.

 

[starrkers]

I just saw a report saying at least 7 dead. If the toll stays that low, it'll be a minor miracle - they reckon it happened in rush hour?

 

[only_more_so]

I just saw a report saying at least 7 dead. If the toll stays that low, it'll be a minor miracle - they reckon it happened in rush hour?

Apparently it was bumper to bumper traffic that was all but stopped.

 

[Liar]

http://imgsrv.wbbm780.com/image/DbGraphic/200708/668142.jpg

Woah. Hard to imagine that thing standing up. Looks like someone dropped a fettucini.

 

[MagicaPractica]

God bless 'em, the people fighting to survive and the workers fighting for them.

 

[christabelll]

Sending prayers and healing energy to everyone involved

 

[glynndah]

I'll add my thoughts, too.

 

[TE999]

Latest news says at least 50 cars, a semi-trailer and two school buses went in the water.

Death toll at least 6 as per the mayor.

Poor devils, my heart goes out to them.

 

[amicus]

Been watching continuously since coverage began just after four pm local time on the west coast.

Red Cross people saying lines are jammed with local citizens asking how they can help, what they can do, as the did in cities near New Orleans, as the nation did on 9/11 and the California quakes, an outpouring of compassion and concern.

Makes ya proud sometimes.

Amicus...

 

[3113]

No shortage of help. Apparently they've gotten a lot of volunteer rescue workers and ambulances coming from neighboring cities to help.

At least 58 individuals injured. As said, 6 confirmed fatalities. Only two kids out of sixty on those school buses were injured seriously.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/01/us/02bridge.1-600.jpg

 

[amicus]

Last report from a hospital medical source said 10 of the 60 children on the school bus were being treated. The bus apparently fell, along with the concrete highway about 40 feet when it collapsed, so a lot of bumps and bruises and maybe some broken bones on the children.

still...fortunate...could have been worse.


amicus...

 

[amicus]

Just as a matter of curiosity and perhaps a sign of changed times...I tuned over to local outlets to see what kind of coverage the networks might have and found that ABC. CBS and NBC have all resumed normal programming.

Meantime Fox, CNN and MSNBC are still running live coverage and interviews nearly four hours later.

Interesting...


amicus...

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

I just picked up a friend at the airport who came from Minneapolis, and crossed that bridge just minutes earlier on the way to the airport there.

~~~~

Somebody fucked up big-time somewhere along the line.

 

[Divulgence]

*****

 

[Guest]

As I driver I honestly look at every bridge and over pass with a certain amount of... will this thing hold each time I pass over it.


I sat in the truck stop and listened to the reports... and how they were trying to pin the blame on someone... anyone to take responisiblity for this.

And unfortunately... those 6 dead are not the only ones.

Those are only the ones from the land sides and the TOP of parts of the bridge.... that doesnt include anyone underneath it.