This evening, Mount Vernon would suffer a catastrophe on the Skagit River as the four-lane I-5 bridge collapsed in the river taking cars and people with it.
The Sherriff’s department arrived on the scene a short time ago to begin fishing people out of the water.. There is estimate as to how many people plunged into the river during the collapse. The collapse occured at approximately 7 pm this evening.
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The is currently no information why the bridge, situated about 60 miles north of Seattle, gave way and fell into the river.
One witness reported being able to see three cars in the river with their drivers on the roofs of the vehicles. She does not believe anyone is in any immediate danger.
Several ambulances have arrived on the scene and one person has been taken away on a stretcher. Several other rescue boats have arrived on the scene as a crowd has gathered near the incident.
Friday Update:
It was announced in an overnight news conference by Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste that the cause of the collapse of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River north of Seattle has been determined.
It was announced that the collapse was caused by a tractor-trailer carrying an oversize load according to the Patrol Chief.
The driver of the semi made it over the bridge before its collapse and stayed on the scene to cooperate with investigators. Apparently, the tractor-trailer’s load was too high for the bridge that had a clearance of 14.6 feet. The load struck an overhead part of the span causing the section to collapse into the water.
Three people were rescued after two vehicles plunged into the river 22 feet below into the 15 foot deep river. All were recovering today.
It was announced that traffic will be affected for quite some time as that bridge sees over 70,000 vehicles cross it span daily going to and from Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
Traffic is being detoured by the Washington Transportation Department to a local bridge that serves traffic between Mount Vernon and Burlington, as officials work on either a temporary or permanent replacement for the bridge.
The 1,112-foot long, 180-foot wide bridge was constructed in 1955 and had its last inspection in November.