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Search Resumes For Victims of Minnesota Bridge Col
Date: 8/2/2007 8:44:36 AM Sender: VOA
Search Resumes For Victims of Minnesota Bridge Collapse

By VOA News

02 August 2007
  
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Vehicles are scattered along the broken remains of the Interstate 35W bridge, 01 Aug 2007  

Authorities in the upper midwestern U.S. city of Minneapolis, Minnesota are searching for the bodies of more victims after a major highway bridge collapsed and plunged 20 meters into the Mississippi River below.

The Minneapolis fire chief, Jim Clack, says the operation has shifted from one of rescue to recovery. Police Thursday declined to speculate on how many people were killed in the collapse of the eight-lane bridge Wednesday evening. Initial reports from the scene put the death toll at seven, with about two dozen others missing.

Authorities say it could take at least three days to finish searching cars that plunged into the river after the collapse.

State and federal transportation officials are on the scene to determine what caused the bridge structure to fail.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security say there is no indication of terrorism. Road crews had been conducting repair and maintenance work on the bridge over the last several weeks.

Witnesses say they heard a loud rumbling noise before the bridge collapsed. Dozens of vehicles crashed on top of each other, and a large truck trapped in a section of the collapsed bridge burst into flames. A freight train passing underneath the bridge was cut in two.

The bridge was built in 1967, and was inspected in 2005 and 2006. No defects were detected in those inspections, but a report issued in 2005 by the federal government rated the bridge as "structurally deficient" and in possible need of replacement.

A 2001 report by Minnesota＇s transportation department concluded the bridge would not have problems with "fatigue cracking" in the future, but it urged frequent inspections of the bridge trusses.




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