Four people were confirmed dead and at least 62 others injured when an eight-lane freeway bridge in Minneapolis, Minn., collapsed into the Mississippi River below Wednesday, according to updated casualty figures.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner told reporters Thursday morning that the confirmed death toll was four, lower than the seven to nine deaths reported earlier. But local officials estimated the death toll would rise.
Minneapolis police chief Tim Dolan said twenty people are missing and the U.S. Coast Guard said 30 to 50 cars remain in the river.
The Interstate 35W bridge collapsed at about 6:05 p.m. local time (2305 GMT) during Wednesday's rush hours, plunging cars and concretes into the river.
Security camera video showed the bridge's center section collapsing into the river in less than four seconds. The northern end of the span appeared to drop first and the southern end followed.
Search operations on the river were halted around nightfall Wednesday for safety reasons. Authorities are still trying to find the cause of the collapse.
The bridge was under repair at the time, Minneapolis fire chief Jim Clack said, "We do not believe at this point there was any terrorism or nefarious activity -- it was just a structural collapse."
Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the bridge was inspected in 2005 and 2006 and no structural defects were found.
According to the Minneapolis Riverfront District Website, the steel arch bridge was opened in 1967.
Its longest span stretches about 140 meters over the river, and it was constructed with no mid-river piers to facilitate river traffic.
There were eight construction workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and one of them is missing.
Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory database said the bridge was "structurally deficient."
About 100,000 cars a day travel over the bridge, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The White House has been in touch with local officials and a federal investigative team has been dispatched to the scene, according to media reports.
A school bus filled with more than 50 children who were returning from a summer field trip was among the vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed.
All the children were evacuated and eight were sent to hospital.
Source: Xinhua
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