Raging river to delay recovery of bridge disaster victims

A sonar device was brought in today to assist almost 300 emergency workers searching for more than 60 bodies lost in a raging Portuguese river after a bridge collapsed.

However, a forecast for heavy rain that would swell the already powerful current in the muddy Douro river alarmed the 50 divers at the scene who feared for their safety.

Though the sonar should locate the tour bus and two cars that plunged into the river on Sunday night, there was little hope that the 60 bodies could be recovered quickly.

Portugal began two days of national mourning for the accident at Entre-os-Rios. Some children reportedly were among the dead, though officials declined to confirm the victims’ identities.

The authorities said they expected the final death toll to be 67, about half of them from the nearby village of Raiva.

The government - which was responsible for maintaining the 116-year-old bridge - accepted blame for the accident and promised to pay compensation to the victims’ families.

During seven hours of searching on Monday, divers recovered just one body as hundreds of grieving local people - relatives and friends of those killed when a tour bus crossing the bridge fell into the water - looked on.

Divers were not able to locate the bus nor two cars believed submerged with bodies inside, though the body of a woman, believed to be between 60 and 65, was found downstream.

The double decker bus fell off the bridge when a pillar crumbled after dark on Sunday. Witnesses said two cars also plunged 165 feet into the water. The water where the vehicles fell was believed to have been 50 feet deep.