Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Bridge tragedy in Minneapolis...

I live in St. Cloud, around an hour or so from where the bridge collapsed in the midst of evening rush hour on I-35W over the Mississippi river in Minneapolis. My friend Andy Aplikowski lives around 12 miles from the scene and has been following the situation closely.

Although terrorism is not suspected, the way the events happened, terrorists could not have planned it better if indeed they had planned it.

According to a report I just heard on the news, a witness said that there was a "plume of smoke" that shot straight up from the south end of the bridge just prior to its collapse, that rose up about 200 feet. Witnesses are saying that it felt like an earthquake.

The last figure I heard was that seven people are confirmed dead. I do not know at this time how many are missing. This is horrible on so many levels. Prayers for the city of Minneapolis, and for the victims, will be key.

I have also heard that officials are asking for donations of money and of blood.

The Minnesota Twins wisely decided to go on with their game tonight, so as to keep traffic away from the disaster site.

The Twins have cancelled tomorrow's game, as well as tomorrow's scheduled groundbreaking for their new stadium.