Witnesses describe motorway bridge collapse

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.

Survivors and witnesses cried and hugged each other as rescue crews tried to save who they could and gauge the scope of the catastrophic collapse of the eight-lane bridge.

At least seven people died and dozens more injured.

Dennis Winegar, of Houston, Texas, said he felt the Interstate 35W bridge start to shake.

“I slammed on my brakes and saw something in front of me disappear and then my car pointed straight down and we fell,” he said.

He estimated they dropped about 50 feet. “I just reacted, put my foot on the brakes and started praying we didn’t flip over,” he said. “When I got out ... there was a car lodged underneath me and one right next to me.”

His wife, Jamie Winegar, said everyone around them got out of their cars and tried to help each other off the bridge.

“There were a bunch of people right around there helping everyone,” she said. “Angels is what I call them.”

Peter Siddons was on his commute home north when he heard “crunching” and saw the bridge start to roll and then crumple, he told the Star Tribune.

He said: “It kept collapsing, down, down, down until it got to me.”