A section of a major interstate highway in Washington state collapsed today, sending an unknown number of cars and people into the rushing waters of the Skagit River north of Seattle, according to police.
The bridge carried both the north- and south-bound lanes of Interstate 5, which runs the length of the U.S. West Coast from Mexico to Canada. State Patrol Trooper Mark Francis said that “people and cars in water” in a Twitter message.
Images on local television station websites showed at least two vehicles in the river, including one with a man sitting atop his vehicle’s roof. There were no reports on the number of people involved or any deaths or injuries.
Rescue efforts by local police are under way, Francis said.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is aware of the I-5 bridge collapse and is “gathering information,” Kelly Nantel, an agency spokeswoman, said in an interview. The NTSB, based in Washington, investigates major transportation accidents in the U.S. and determines their causes.
In August 2007, an interstate highway bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, sending rush-hour traffic into the Mississippi River and killing 13 people and injuring 145 -- the worst such event in 25 years. The NTSB inquiry into the collapse found that steel plates used to connect the 40-year-old structure’s beams were too thin, causing it to fail.
The bridge over the Skagit River was built in 1955 and is considered functionally obsolete, according to the National Bridge Inventory Database.

I can't believe usa will be so careless to maintain this bridge. So sad

if na nigeria, dem go don dey talk trash

Ok.

This was one of the bridges obama spoke of in his plan last year for a major infastructural renovation in the u.s, but the republicans blocked it saying he was a big spender, now look at this. I'll like to see how they spin this.

A portion of the Interstate 5 bridge is submerged after it collapsed into the Skagit River dumping vehicles and people into the water in Mount Vernon, Wash., Thursday, May 23, 2013 according to the Washington State Patrol.

ednut1: if na nigeria, dem go don dey talk trash

Bros who be 'dem'?

So sad
Where there no prior notice of cracks on the bridge?
Don't tell me Americans can be this careless
They are known to have good maintenance culture unlike the part of this world
RIP to the dead.