8 still missing in span collapse
MINNEAPOLIS – Divers scoured treacherous waters searching for bodies Saturday, stopping for a brief period when a rainstorm sent twisted metal, glass and debris whirling dangerously in the Mississippi River.
Time ticked by too slowly for frustrated families who waited for a fourth day to hear news about loved ones they had not heard from since Wednesday night, when the Interstate 35W bridge buckled, killing five people and injuring nearly 100 others.
Police released an official list Saturday of the eight people reported missing, matching estimates that had been lowered from the hours immediately after the collapse.
Since the collapse, divers have navigated cloudy waters unable to see what lurked ahead of them. They swam against powerful tides and pried open doors of sunken cars. On Saturday, one diver got tangled in a vehicle and needed help getting free.
Still, they have found no bodies.
Outside one family’s home in Rosemount, 20 miles from downtown Minnesota, cars lined the driveway and block as friends stopped by to comfort relatives and pray for Peter Hausmann, 47, a former missionary.
“We’re still waiting,” said Hausmann’s 16-year-old daughter, Justine. “We don’t know anything.”
Hausmann’s father last spoke to her mother, Helen, at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday, when the cell phone cut off.
Helen spent Saturday near the site of the collapsed bridge talking to counselors and authorities. By late evening, the family still did not know if he was dead or alive.
“I never thought that I would have to deal with something like this,” said Justine, who added that she had to be strong for her younger siblings. “If I crumble, they crumble.”
President Bush offered condolences to the families of victims after touring the wreckage Saturday morning. He surveyed the scene from a helicopter, and, later, looked over the graveyard of cars submerged in oily dark water.
He spoke to rescue workers and families, including the family of Sherry Engebresten, who died on her way home for a dinner to send her 20-year-old daughter off to dance camp, and Patrick Holmes, a father of two children who died on his way to pick them up from day care.
Bush pledged assistance in rebuilding the bridge, adding that the federal government will work with state and local offices “to cut through that paperwork, and to see if we can’t get this bridge rebuilt in a way that not only expedites the flow of traffic, but in a way that can stand the test of time.”
State transportation officials set an ambitious timetable for rebuilding the bridge, announcing Saturday they hoped to award a contract in September and have the project completed by the end of 2008 – about 15 months.
The U.S. House late Saturday approved $250 million in funds to help repair the bridge; the Senate had approved the amount Friday. Congress still would have to appropriate the money in future legislation.