Video of I-35 Bridge Collapse..(Updated)

Captain Ed notes:

The bridge appears to break, as one might guess from the pattern of the rubble, not in the center but as the span goes over the water of the river. The center section drops straight down, and the video briefly shows the cars that went down with it. A few seconds later, that first third of the bridge follows it down. In that first couple of frames, the steel structure buckles dramatically.

One point to note: it does not show the entire span of the bridge. The collapse could have started on the right of the camera, which is not shown. That would be the south end of the bridge; the video looks north across the river.

As I noted here, eyewitness accounts suggest that the bridge did indeed begin its precipitous demise at the south end.

Noah confirms that there was not an explosion.

Currently, the Hennepin County Sheriff's department is giving an update, and stresses that this is no longer a rescue operation. He reports that there is a difficult time in reaching the vehicles due not only to the natural currents in the Mississippi, but the varying currents created by the debris from the bridge and the vehicles that fell into the water.

The strategy has been and remains to lower the river via the lock and dam system, but the eddys and currents continue to remain too strong to be able to access the vehicles. For now, the divers have been taken out of the scene. They will continue to try to lower the river levels further.

***UPDATE***

Sisyphus gives us a sobering eyewitness account here.

****UPDATE*****

Video and a personal account of a man from Houston, TX who was on the bridge, here.