Police Arrest 16 Trespassers Near Minnesota Bridge Collapse Site

Divers from the Navy and the FBI are working from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m. to retrieve evidence and human remains after last week’s devastating bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Police said Wednesday that numerous local citizens have trespassed into the site of the collapse and are hindering the investigation, so they are strengthening security and arresting people. According to Capt. Mike Martin, authorities have added motion detectors, surveillance cameras, and technology to alert police to intruders.

"The most important part is: Maintain the honor and the dignity (of the scene)," Martin said during a press conference Wednesday, adding that the Department of Transportation is assuming control of the security of the area, which is being treated as a death-scene investigation. A makeshift sign hung on a fence overlooking the collapse site reads, "Please stop gawking. Go home—watch it on TV."

Five people are confirmed dead and eight others are missing and presumed dead. Officials believe that their bodies are crushed inside vehicles that were trapped beneath large chunks of concrete and other debris. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, divers have located four more empty vehicles that will be removed to allow better access to the wreckage. Martin said that the recovery process will continue to be slow, and it will not be an easy one.

"As hard as it is for us to talk to people about this and to explain it in a way that is not too gruesome, those vehicles have been crushed, for the most part. There may be areas where they are protected that are inside that we haven't seen," Martin said. "But this is not going to be a case where they cut away rebar, maybe cut into some of the superstructure, and then reach into a window to recover the body. This is going to be a process of having to, most likely, pull these vehicles out and do a long-term extrication…taking apart the vehicle to recover evidence."

Navy Secretary Donald Winter visited the site Wednesday and met with some of the divers. Calling the collapse an "amazing tragedy," he cautioned that it will take time and a concerted effort to complete the damage investigation and recovery. "Right now we’re going through a survey process to make sure we understand what is down there," Winter said. "We’ll be here as long as we are needed and as long as we can really help."

In the meantime, police are encouraging anyone who witnessed the collapse and hasn’t spoken with authorities about it to call a toll-free hotline set up by the National Transportation Safety Board: 1-866-328-6347. Authorities are particularly interested in reports of someone in a kayak near the bridge just before it fell. Officials have also interviewed members of a dinner cruise ship that was in a dam lock nearby when the bridge collapsed.

Another telephone number was released Wednesday for relatives or victims in the collapse to call if they need to retrieve personal belongings left in cars, such as clothing, purses, and laptop computers. That number is 612-673-3676.

Deputy Chief Valerie Wurster said that police haven’t retrieved many items, but "we’re hoping we can release those effects very, very quickly" once the vehicles have all been removed from the river. So far investigators have mapped the locations of 88 vehicles, trailers, and construction equipment.