Rain Delays Recovery Efforts at 35W Bridge

Shannon Weidemann

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The Mississippi River rose 1 to 2 feet overnight due to rain and there is a dangerous current. Navy divers have halted their search and recovery mission until conditions are safer. The official death toll is eight from the 35W Bridge collapse that happened in Minneapolis on August 1st.

"Dive team members assigned to the Navy Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit will continue to assess the situation and manage as best as possible," the news release said.

They'll have to "just wait 'til nature is done, and they'll continue to assess," Navy spokesman Randy Mitchell said.

Five people are still missing and are believed to be dead. The youngest victim of the bridge collapse, a 22-month-old, was laid to rest today along with her mother.

A cause for the collapse has not been discovered but investigators are working hard to discover one. An agressive timetable has been set up in order to build a new bridge by the end of 2008.

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