|
|
Thursday, August 2, 2007
|
|
Photographer describes chaos Scene was surreal after bridge collapse Staff Writer Brainerd native and Minneapolis resident John Pedersen, who was photographing Wednesday's I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis for the Brainerd Dispatch, was taken aback by what he witnessed following the collapse.
"It was very odd to see because that's a bridge we go over quite frequently and it isn't there anymore," Pedersen said.
Pedersen said he wasn't able to get too close to the collapsed bridge because authorities had cordoned off the area, but he was able to get a full view from a nearby parking garage and from a walking bridge.
He said from his vantage point he saw several vehicles still on the collapsed section of the bridge and other vehicles submerged in the waters of the Mississippi River. On the east side of the river, he said the iron supports that held up the bridge were mangled.
With the exception of pedestrian bridges, which were packed with thousands of bystanders watching the rescue efforts below, Pedersen said roads and bridges within the vicinity of the bridge collapse had been closed. He added that people were looking for any vantage point they could find to view the collapsed bridge. At one point, University of Minnesota officials cleared their pedestrian bridge because of an incoming thunderstorm, he said.
In the wreckage below, Pedersen said firefighters worked to put out a semi-truck and trailer that had started on fire and between 15 to 20 boat and water crews were in the Mississippi River near the collapse.
ŇIt was very odd to see because thatŐs a bridge we go over quite frequently and it isnŐt there anymore.Ó
John Pedersen,
Photographer
|
"By the time I was there it seemed to me that they probably got most of the people out of the water," Pedersen said.
Pedersen is a former Dispatch photo intern and current freelance photographer.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
|
|
|
Thinking about a New Job?
These employers want you!
|
Loading...
|
|
|
Today's Best Classifieds:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overcast, 61°
