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Bridge collapse in Washington state sends cars and people into water Bridge collapse in Washington state sends cars and people into water
(35 minutes later)
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The major highway bridge linking Seattle with Canada and the rest of the Pacific north-west region collapsed late on Thursday, dumping several vehicles and the people inside into a river, the Washington state patrol said.

The major highway bridge linking the Washington state city of Seattle with Canada and the rest of the Pacific north-west region collapsed late on Thursday, dumping several vehicles and the people inside into a river.
The four-lane Interstate 5 bridge collapsed about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, Trooper Mark Francis said. The four-lane Interstate 5 bridge collapsed about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, Trooper Mark Francis of the Washington state patrol said.
Francis said he did not know how many people were in the water or whether there were injuries or deaths. He did not know what caused the collapse, which came at the start of one of the country's busiest holiday weekends of the year.Francis said he did not know how many people were in the water or whether there were injuries or deaths. He did not know what caused the collapse, which came at the start of one of the country's busiest holiday weekends of the year.
Xavier Grospe, who lives near the river, said he could see three partially submerged cars and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows. Helicopter footage aired by KOMO-TV in Seattle showed one rescue boat leaving the scene with one person strapped into a stretcher. A damaged red car and a damaged pickup truck were visible in the water.
A Skagit Valley Herald reporter at the scene said a sheriff's office rescue boat had arrived and rescue crews were looking for people in the water.A Skagit Valley Herald reporter at the scene said a sheriff's office rescue boat had arrived and rescue crews were looking for people in the water.
The reporter saw two vehicles in the water, with a person sitting on one of them. A man told the local Skagit Valley Herald newspaper he felt a vibration and looked in his rear view mirror to see that the part of bridge he had just crossed was no longer behind him. "I thought something was wrong with my car at first," he said
Crowds of people lined the river to watch, the newspaper reported. The bridge is not considered structurally deficient but is listed as being "functionally obsolete" meaning that its design is outdated, according to a database compiled by the Federal Highway Administration.
Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state's bridges. The bridge was built in 1955 and has a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100, according to federal records. That is well below the statewide average rating of 80, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data.

Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state's bridges.

The group said more than a quarter of Washington state's 7,840 bridges were considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.The group said more than a quarter of Washington state's 7,840 bridges were considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
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