US President George Bush got a firsthand view today of the devastation at the site of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

A rush-hour crawl that gave vehicles little momentum to slide into the river and a bridge design that minimised falling debris appear to have kept the death toll relatively low in the collapse of a bridge into the Mississippi River.

US President George Bush plans to visit the site of a bridge collapse in Minneapolis today after Congress voted to direct $250m (€181m) for the structure to be rebuilt.

Fears that an interstate bridge collapse in Minnesota might produce dozens of deaths eased today as US authorities said the number of missing, once thought to be as many as 30, was just eight.

Officials in the US were warned as early as 1990 that a bridge which collapsed into the Mississippi River was “structurally deficient”.

Families waited anxiously for news of missing relatives as divers searched through the dangerous debris left by Wednesday’s bridge collapse.

Cutting corners in the design of the US bridge which collapsed into the Mississippi killing several people may have contributed to the disaster, British experts said today.

Authorities lowered the death toll from an interstate bridge collapse to four today, but warned the final number could change as divers search the Mississippi River.

Irish student Peter Friel was working just a quarter of a mile from the Minneapolis bridge over the Mississippi River when it collapsed during rush hour.

Some dropped with the collapsing bridge into the waters of the Mississippi River and swam to safety, while others leaped from their cars to solid ground.

At least seven people died when a freeway bridge suddenly broke into huge sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River in the US during rush-hour traffic jams.

A motorway bridge over the Mississippi River in the US collapsed yesterday, sending many cars into the water.