MINNEAPOLIS — Estimates that more than 30 people were entombed in their vehicles after a bridge collapsed changed suddenly yesterday, when authorities said just eight persons appeared to be missing.
Although dozens of cars remain in the Mississippi River after Wednesday’s bridge collapse, recovery crews think many motorists were able to escape and swim to safety.
“There are windows down in some of the cars which allows people to get out,” said Capt. Bill Chandler of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. “We are going to go under the assumption that there are still people there no matter what.”
First lady Laura Bush toured the devastation yesterday, standing on a hillside not far from where a school bus still sits on a slanted slab of concrete that fell 20 to 30 feet. The bus, which was packed with about 50 children returning from a day at a water park, sits next to a burned-out tractor-trailer, and not far from the river’s edge.
“If you ever need proof of the hand of God, just look where that bus is,” Minneapolis Deputy Police Chief Rob Allen told Mrs. Bush as they viewed the collapsed bridge. “Two seconds later, there’s a massive fire right where the cab of that truck is, and those kids would have been killed in a fire. Two seconds earlier, and it’s in the river.”
At least five persons were killed and about 100 injured when the Interstate 35W bridge plummeted more than 60 feet into the river. At least five of the injured are in critical condition, hospital officials said.
One specialist credited the bridge’s design for the low casualty rate.
Joseph Schofer, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University, said the bridge’s underlying arch truss stopped heavy pieces of steel from falling onto vehicles when the cars plunged into the water.
“We were surprised that we didn’t have more people seriously injured and killed,” Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack said yesterday. “I think it was something of a miracle.”
Still, the collapse prompted questions about the safety record of the bridge, which was declared “structurally deficient” as early as 1990.
Mrs. Bush also met yesterday with dozens of first responders at a command center and thanked Red Cross workers, many of whom have spent more than 40 hours straight at the scene.
“Over the last 43 hours, the whole country has seen the strength of the Minneapolis-St. Paul community, and because we’ve seen that strength, we all are confident that the bridge will be rebuilt and that your city will heal,” the first lady said later in a speech in St. Paul.
President Bush, who is scheduled to visit the site today, echoed his wife’s words.
“In times of tragedy, our hearts ache for those who suffer, yet our hearts are also lifted by acts of courage and compassion,” he said. “We saw those qualities in the residents of a nearby apartment building who rushed to the scene to offer their help. We saw them in the divers who fought the mighty currents of the Mississippi to reach victims. And we saw them in the firefighters who searched car to car for survivors.”
Meanwhile, the House and Senate voted yesterday to direct $250 million to rebuild the bridge.
But another vote in the House is needed today after the Senate amended the measure to switch the source of some of the money. Sen. Norm Coleman, Minnesota Republican, said the “technical amendment” could end up adding another $5 million to the package.
“All of us are struck, deeply within our souls” by the collapse, said Rep. James L. Oberstar, Minnesota Democrat.
Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, praised the bipartisan response, saying, “Even though we have strong differences of opinion, when tragedy strikes America, we have no Democrats, we have no Republicans.”
The legislation would waive the $100 million federal limit per state for emergency relief funds. The money itself still needs to be appropriated by Congress in future legislation.
•This article is based in part on wire service reports
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