MINNEAPOLIS -- The Interstate 35W bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed during yesterday evening's rush hour, sending dozens of cars plummeting into the water and crashing along the banks and roadways below.

David Denney, Star TribuneCollapsed portion of the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River as seen in Minneapolis yesterday following the rush hour catastrophe.
Click photo for larger image.More on the story PennDOT stresses the value of bridge inspection

Updates: Associated Press reports

Video: One woman's first person account of survival

Video: Overview of the scene

Interactives: Slideshow, eyewitness video and photos and locator map

Interactive graphic: More about the I-35W Bridge

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Sherri LaRose-Chiglo, Pioneer PressRescue crews work in the water alongside sections of the fallen bridge, which stretches between Minneapolis and St. Paul.
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Stacy Bengs, The Minnesota DailyVehicles are scattered along the broken remains of the Interstate 35W bridge. Last night authorities said at least 20 people are missing.
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Jeff Wheeler, Star TribuneA rescue worker enters a car in the river to search for a victim after the collapse during the evening rush hour.
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Matthew Mead, The Minnesota DailyA man comforts an unidentified victim injured in the collapse of the Interstate I-35W bridge yesterday.
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"This is a catastrophe of historic proportions for Minnesota," Gov. Tim Pawlenty said.

Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack said the number of deaths from the bridge collapse has climbed to seven. Several dozen were injured, including six critically, said Dr. Joseph Clinton, emergency room chief at Hennepin County Medical Center.

According to the State Patrol, 30 to 35 people were injured and 20 people were missing. Between 50 and 60 vehicles were on the bridge when it went down, the Patrol said. Authorities said last night that the cause of the collapse was unknown.

All but one of the construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time were accounted for, said Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan.

By 1 a.m. this morning, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said all search efforts had been called off for the night and that searchers did not expect to find any survivors.

"It's dark, it's not safe with the currents in the water and the concrete and rebar," he said. "At this point it is a recovery effort."

Up until then, rescue efforts continued in the darkness as people spilled into the streets and watched from vantage points in and near downtown Minneapolis.

What they saw was the aftermath of a horrific scene that unfolded as motorists crawled bumper to bumper across I-35 toward the end of rush hour.

They felt buckling and swaying and heard a crunching.

Then came the unthinkable: The 40-year-old bridge collapsed, dumping an estimated 50 vehicles into the water and onto land below. That was followed by scenes of frantic, bloodied motorists and rescuers who converged on the scene.

Many vehicles, including at least one semi-trailer, were on fire. People were reported to be floundering in the river. Rescuers rushed to help people escape cars trapped in the V-shaped hollow where the bridge had caved in.

A school bus, filled with 60 children, ages 5 to 17, returning from a day camp was on the bridge when it collapsed, injuring at least two children and two adults seriously, according to one of the children.

"We collapsed," said Ryan Watkins, one of the children.

He said the bus bounced twice and then stopped. He and others escaped out the rear door of the bus because the front door was wedged against a concrete traffic barrier. The kids were returning from a day of swimming and are members of the Waite House summer program based in Minneapolis.

"Some kids had blood on their faces, but thank God, everybody could move," said Jay Danz, 45, of St. Paul, who had just driven under the bridge. "Everybody seemed OK."

Crumpled wreckage lay on the east bank of the river, and a huge section of concrete roadway lay on the west bank. Down below in the river gorge, rescue workers scrambled to help people get out of the water.

Fire and black smoke rose from the wreckage.

Memorial Blood Centers and the American Red Cross put out immediate calls for blood donors. A center for families who were affected was set up at the Holiday Inn Metrodome.

On the bridge
Catherine Yankelevich, 29, was on the bridge when, she said, "it started shaking, cars started flying and I was falling and saw the water."

Her car was in the river when she climbed out the driver's side window and swam to shore uninjured.

"It seemed like a movie, it was pretty scary," said Ms. Yankelevich, who is from California and survived the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

"I never expected anything like this to happen here," she said.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a statement last night saying there was no indication of terrorism.

About 20 construction workers employed by Progressive Contractors Inc. were about to begin night shift work on the bridge when it collapsed, company officials said.

The company has been working on the bridge repair for about six weeks, said Mike McGray, president of the company. Progressive is based in St. Michael, Minn., and is one of the state's major road and bridge repair contractors.

In 1990 a construction worker fell 90 feet to his death when a concrete arch span on the Lake St.-Marshall Ave. Bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River. In 1960 a bridge over the Minnesota River at Hwy. 41 in Chaska collapsed during construction. No one was killed in that incident.

Construction work
Construction workers had been repairing the bridge's surface as part of improvements along that stretch of the interstate. There were a large number of construction workers who went into the water, said Maj. Michael Asleson of the Minnesota State Patrol.

Two people were taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale and five others arrived by ambulance at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. One underwent surgery for a broken arm, according to a hospital spokesman.

"We have no idea about number of victims, number of fatalities, but it's fair to say that there will be multiple," Maj. Asleson said.

A staging area for the injured was set up near the Stone Arch Bridge.

'Lucky to be alive'
Marcelo Cruz, 26, of Crystal, Minn., who has used a wheelchair since being paralyzed in a shooting in South Carolina several years ago, was driving his van across the bridge toward downtown when he felt it began to wave up and down. He steered into the concrete railing to stop himself from driving into the river, and saw many cars on the bridge fall into the water.

His van came to rest steeply inclined toward the river and several onlookers ran and told him to get out. He said he needed help and the onlookers carried him out of his van in his wheelchair to safety on the riverbank.

"I'm lucky to be alive," he said over and over again.

Berndt Toivonen, 51, of Minneapolis, was on his way home from a painting job when the bridge collapsed beneath his car.

"The bridge started to buckle," he said. "It went up and it came down. I thought I was going to die."

Charles Flowers, 36, of Dewy Rose, Ga., was waiting at Metal Matic to pick up a load of tubing to haul to Mexico when he and several others felt the ground shake and ran from the building and saw the bridge had collapsed.

Trying to help
They scrambled down the riverbank where, Mr. Flowers said, he saw cars floating in the river, and injured, bleeding, dazed people asking for help. He said he pulled a woman he presumed dead from the water.

"I never thought I'd see anything like this," he said.

Peter Siddons, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, was heading north over the bridge toward his home to White Bear Lake, Minn., when he heard "crunching."

Precarious position
"I saw this rolling of the bridge," he said. "It kept collapsing, down, down, down until it got to me."

Mr. Siddons' car dropped with the bridge, and its nose rolled into the car in front of him and stopped.

He got out of his car, jumped over the crevice between the highway lanes and crawled up the steeply tilted section of bridge to land, where he jumped to the ground.

"I thought I was dead," he said. "Honestly, I honestly did. I thought it was over."

Ramon Houge, of St. Paul, was on his way home from work and was on the bridge when he heard a rumbling noise and cars in front of him began to go down.

He said cars that could backed up, turned around and drove toward safety.

Mr. Danz was driving to the Twins-Kansas City game and took West River Parkway under the bridge just before it collapsed.

"I heard it creaking and making all sorts of noise it shouldn't make," he said. "And then the bridge just started to fall apart."

There were cars behind him on the parkway, but he didn't think any of them were under the bridge when it fell.

Sudden stop
John Joachim, of Taylors Falls, Minn., took I-35W to the Twins game and said traffic suddenly "slammed to a stop" as he neared University Avenue.

"I didn't know what was going on but a huge cloud of dust rose in front of us," he said.

After the game, traffic was being rerouted away from the collapse, routes that also were being used by theater patrons.

Thursday afternoon's Twins game has been postponed, along with scheduled groundbreaking ceremonies for the new baseball park that had been scheduled for the evening.

Louis Rogers, 28, of Roseville, Minn., was driving home from work listening to music in his Chevy Blazer when the bridge gave way just feet in front of him.

Sound was 'like a thud'
"It just disappeared; it made no sound whatsoever," he said. "It was pretty much like a thud, not too loud of a thud. The next thing I know, cars were dropping and there was smoke. My car was no more than five feet from the edge."

Mr. Rogers tried to help some of the people in cars that had fallen into the river and stopped on the bridge.

"I saw a lady in a car and I screamed, but I got no response," he said. "I grabbed my bag and started signaling cars to get out of there."

Ryan Murphey, 30, Minneapolis, went to the scene to see if he could help out.

"It looked like a terrorist attack, a complete catastrophe," Mr. Murphey said. "But everyone there was very calm and organized."

He helped remove two victims from the east side of the bridge on stretchers, including a woman in her late 50s with a "bloody face."

Moment of prayer
The Twins decided to play last night's game, but only after the public address announcer alerted the crowd at 7:08 p.m. CDT of the bridge's collapse. A moment of prayer followed. It was then announced that the game would go on so emergency crews could perform their duties without the added pressure of having 20,000 to 25,000 people scrambling in swarms from the Metrodome area.

Area law enforcement, including the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, had launched at least three boats to help with the rescues.

"Unbelievable," said Audrey Glassman, of Minneapolis, who left her work shift at nearby Spoonriver restaurant to survey the scene. "You'll never cross a bridge again without thinking about this."

First Published: August 2, 2007, 3:45 a.m.