I-35 Bridge Collapses into Mississippi River in Minneapolis

Image from Yahoo! News

Image from Yahoo! News

A section of I-35 collapsed in my hometown of Minneapolis:

MINNEAPOLIS - An interstate bridge jammed with rush-hour traffic suddenly broke into huge sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River Wednesday, pitching dozens of cars 60 feet into the water and killing at least six people.

The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, was in the midst of being repaired and had several lanes closed when it crumbled.

"There were two lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper, at the point of the collapse. Those cars did go into the river," Minneapolis Police Lt. Amelia Huffman. "At this point there is nothing to suggest that this was anything other than a structural collapse."

I've contacted my family and they're OK. So far no terrorism is suspected. The bridge was undergoing repairs. Eyewitness reports are coming in:

Dennis Winegar of Houston, Texas, said he felt the Interstate 35W bridge start to shake. "I slammed on my brakes and saw something in front of me disappear and then my car pointed straight down and we fell." He estimated they dropped about 50 feet.

"I just reacted, put my foot on the brakes and started praying we didn't flip over," he said. "When I got out ... there was a car lodged underneath me and one right next to me."

His wife, Jamie Winegar, said everyone around them got out of their cars and tried to help each other off the bridge. "There were a bunch of people right around there helping everyone. Angels is what I call them."

My thoughts go out to everyone affected. They also go out to the engineers responsible for the bridge and ask "How could this happen?"