I-5 Bridge Over Skagit River Collapses, Cars And People In Water [VIDEO]
A portion of an Interstate 5 bridge collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water below, authorities said. There isn't an estimate of how many people might have been injured from that collapse that occurred about 11 p.m. EDT, according to the Associated Press.
Tweets from KOMO News in Seattle revealed no deaths occurred because of the accident. Rescue crews were sent to the scene in Mount Vernon, Wash., to help people who fell into the Skagit River, which lies two hours outside of Seattle. "N/B and S/B lanes of I-5 Skagit River Bridge collapsed," Washington State Trooper Mark Francis posted on Twitter. "People and cars in water."
Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, told the AP he was able to see some of the cars that were partially submerged. There was one person per vehicle, and it didn't seem like anyone was in harm. The drivers were either sitting on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows. "It doesn't look like anybody's in danger right now," he told the AP.
Bart Treece from the Washington state Department of Transportation couldn't provide the age of the bridge when asked by news organizations. "All of our bridges in the area are pretty old," he said, according to ABC News Radio. "I don't have an exact date on this, and we're still checking out some of the details behind it." However the AP, who cited federal records, said the bridge was built in 1955.
Recent tweets from KOMO News said bridge that extends from the North Cascades National Park to a cluster of islands off the Washington coast might have collapsed from an oversized load.
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