Rush hour: The bridge over the Skagit River collapsed shortlybefore 7pm on Thursday causing a number of passenger-filled cars tofall into the water below
Revelations: The bridge was reportedly listed as one of the state'sstructurally deficient bridges
Rescue effort: Workers form a human chain as they begin to remove awoman from a vehicle in the water
Lucky escape: A man is seen sitting atop a car that fell into theSkagit River after the bridge collapse
Damage: The first pictures of the scene show that both the northand southbound lanes of the Interstate highway collapsed onThursday evening just before 7pm
Rescue: Three people were initially pulled from the water alive,though there remained concerns about other possible passengers whowere trapped by debris
On the water: Concerns about the water pressure, drowning, andfallen concrete or metal all proved harrowing for the respondingofficers
Desperate search: Eyewitnesses said that they could hear a manscreaming from one of the trucks that fell in the water
Troubled water: Both the north and south bound lanes of theinterstate were effected so much of the nearby highway was closedin order to prevent any other accidents
Scary: Though the water was not particularly deep where thecollapse occurred, there were a number of other factors that couldprove threatening for the passengers inside the cars, like thisoverturned one
Questions: There are unconfirmed reports that a large truck hitsomething to unsteady the bridge but investigators are stilllooking into what caused the unexpected collapse
Hopeful: Crowds gathered on the river bank as the rescue crewsbring survivors out of the water
Viewing the scene: Crowds gathered on the top of the bridge as theytried to assess the damage
Location: The bridge itself is in a rather remote area between thetowns of Burlington and Mount Vernon but the interstate itself is amajor thoroughfare that connects Seattle to Canada
