What Happened?
A bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River. It was the Interstate 35 West bridge in Minneapolis. It fell into the Mississippi River. Cars were still on top of the bridge as if fell into the river. The plunge was 64 feet. There are at least five people who are dead. There were at least 79 injuries so far. There are still a lot of people who are missing. There are more deaths and injuries expected as the divers search the water. The divers went into the water to search for cars battling the currents and poor visibility.
Helping Hand:
There were a lot of people who wanted to help the victims. They offered cell phones to the victims so they could call their loved ones. They were also helping the victims who were injured. I think the biggest heroes have to be the divers. They are risking their lives to dive into the water to help find the missing people. They have to deal with poor visibility, falling debris, lack of air, darkness, metal objects, and who knows what else. I think that is really brave of all of the people who took the time to help everyone who needed it.
How It Could Have Been Prevented?
Minnesota officials were warned as early as 1990 that the bridge needed work, but nothing major was done. The bridge was structurally deficient, but only patchwork was done to fix it. How in the world was patchwork going to repair a bridge like that? If the inspections were taken seriously, this tragedy might not have happened. Hopefully other states with similar bridge problems will heed this warning and get the bridges fixed. That way this tragedy won't happen again. I have a feeling that a lot of passing the blame is going to take place to explain what happened. I don't think anyone will come forward and take responsibility for what happened.
Final Thoughts
My prayers go out to all of the victims and their families. I pray that all of the missing people will be found soon. I can't begin to imagine what their families are going through not knowing what's going on with their loved ones. I'm sure the wait must be worse.
