If you are online to read this and haven’t found out yet, you’re… well, I don’t even know.

The 35W bridge over the Mississippi collapsed today. I found out via Twitter. It happened at approximately 6:00 pm. There are cars in the river. There was a school bus full of kids on the bridge, but the bus didn’t actually fall in the water. A whole section of bridge dropped straight down and is sitting just above the water. CNN’s running photos that folks downtown have taken from their apartment.

There’s been construction work going on on various parts of 35W near downtown for a long time, but I wasn’t aware that they were actually working on this bridge.

Phone service is spotty.

KARE11 ^[1]
WCCO ^[2]
KSTP ^[3]
MPR ^[4]
Star Tribune ^[5]
Pioneer Press ^[6]

We’ll update with info as we find it.

See also: our open thread ^[7], the Google Map photo of the bridge ^[8], and raw footage of the collapse ^[9].

UPDATE 8:00 PM: We’re tossing info in the comments, so add it if you’ve got it.

Chuck ^[10] put up some of KSTP’s live coverage on YouTube.

Hennepin County Medical Center press conference: 16 people arrived at HCMC. They’re under “alert orange” which means personnel in certain areas are being asked to come in. Not everyone. Folks coming in have multiple cuts and bruises and lots of bleeding. Neck braces. Some unconscious.

All 60 kids on the school bus got off the bus. About 10 have gone to the hospital. About 30-40 are still on the scene and need to be picked up by their parents.

There’s a Twins game tonight, so people were heading downtown. An eyewitness report I heard on MPR said southbound traffic was bumper to bumper and moving at about 20mph. That guy watched the bridge fall in front of him and slid backward from the buckling.

Also, there’s severe weather on the way. Lightning already spotted in the area.

There was maintenance work ongoing, but none of the heavy duty construction going on.

UPDATE 8:20: More from HCMC: Doctor confirms 16 critical, one death due to drowning. No info on the victim. Video on WCCO showing folks on stretchers with lots of blood on them.

This guy was on a boat on the river ^[11] and saw the bridge come down. This guy lives right by the bridge and felt his whole apartment shake ^[12].

UPDATE 8:35: Here’s what that bridge normally looks like. It’s the one in the foreground with the steel girders. The river crossing is near downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota.

^[13]
Originally uploaded by bridgepix ^[14].

Here’s the Mn/DOT news release ^[15] about the maintenance work. Traffic was already restricted in that area. This single-lane restriction was not in effect at the time of the collapse.

Nighttime bridge overlay work will require Minnesota Department of Transportation crews to temporarily restrict traffic to a single lane on I-35W.

The northbound lanes of I-35W between I-94 and Highway 36 will be restricted to a single lane from 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 31, through 5 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 and again from 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, through 5 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 2.

Southbound I-35W will be restricted to a single lane from 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 until 5 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 2.

The WikiNews article ^[16].

UPDATE 9:10: Families looking for people should go to the Metrodome Holiday Inn. Metafilter thread. ^[17] Terrorism has been ruled out as a cause.

Memorial Blood Centers ^[18]: Call (651) 332-7000 or 888-GIVE-BLD to inquire about making donations.
Red Cross is taking donations. ^[19]

This bridge was last inspected in 2004. In 2001, a civil engineering study was commissioned and they determined that while the bridge showed signs of “fatigue detail” it didn’t show any fatigue cracking.

‘CCO says that there are 6 confirmed fatalities, all from drowning.

Press conference upcoming with MPD chief Tim Dolan, Governor Tim Pawlenty, and Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak.

UPDATE 10:00: Still watching WCCO. Don Shelby is explaining that the concrete deck added almost no structural integrity to the bridge. It’s all in the steel truss. Stress testing did show that the bridge showed the most stress when 3 semis drove by side-by-side. Shelby’s hypothesizing that the construction traffic created unusually high stress on the bridge. Video of Shelby talking to a bridge engineer. ^[20]

Buzz.mn ^[21] is liveblogging. Max is rounding up local bloggers checking in at MNspeak ^[22].

The feds are on their way. ^[23]

Flickr photos: adamwolf ^[24], steve.schmeiser ^[25], mordac ^[26], Bree R ^[27], Tubes. ^[28], diversey ^[29].

Basic facts about the I-35W Mississippi River Crossing ^[30].

UPDATE 10:20: NY Times article. ^[31]

From WCCO’s timeline: “The bridge crushed a train that was traveling under it at the time of the collapse.” ^[32]

UPDATE 12:30AM: Video of the aftermath at MN Stories. ^[33]
More video at Tao of David. ^[34]
Star Tribune is reporting 9 dead, 60 injured, 20 still missing.
Aggregate page at MPR ^[35].
Aaron Landry posted Noah Kubrin’s photos. ^[36]
Twin City Sidewalks has a terrific post putting some perspective on it all ^[37].
Elana Centor at BlogHer: “The last time I crossed the bridge was on Monday as I returned from Blogher. Since my exit was closed, I had to go up the road a mile and then backtrack. It seemed like a big pain. Of course without a bridge that extra excursion now seems like a luxury.” ^[38]
Julio rounds up the internet response ^[39] for the PiPress.

UPDATE 8:05 AM: E-democracy has a wiki going ^[40] compiling information. Also, by all accounts, HCMC’s disaster preparedness and response to this incident was stellar. And from their website ^[41], the Red Cross Family Inquiry Line is 612-871-7676. People looking for info about family members at HCMC should call 612-873-3400.