Personal Stories

Commentaries and Personal Perspectives

Were you affected by the collapse or have an insight to share?
Send MPR your first-person account, or submit your commentary.

"What bothers me most about this is that the checks and balances have failed. [MPR News: Why did no one ever look at the gusset plates?] No one person is responsible for a design.

Shortly after this tragic accident all of the states jumped on the bandwagon and re-inspected bridges that had been inspected with no idea of what they where looking for. "

-- Excerpt from a recent commentary by Robert Olori, Pearl River, N.Y.

Read more commentaries

Discussions

Featured discussions from MPR's Minnesota Life group on Gather.com:

• How to Pay for Bridge Repair
• Minneapolis Bridge Collapse: What is the path to normalcy?
• How should the investigation proceed?
• A View From (almost) the Bridge
• Please share your Web resources regarding the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse
• 35W Bridge in Minneapolis collapses

Photos

Were you present at the event or have pictures of the aftermath?

Send MPR your images.

Features

First-person accounts through the lens of MPR News

Stumbling into a life-and-death situation
Sean McLoughlin, a Minneapolis resident, recounts how he suddenly became a first responder at the I-35W bridge collapse.

Perspectives from residents and commuters
Minnesota Public Radio has gathered the perspectives of area residents and commuters who had a connection with the failed

Witnesses to a disaster
Minnesota Public Radio News has gathered the first-hand experiences of people who experienced the collapse of the 35W bridge.

Perspective from a first responder
First responder and firefighter Curt Mackey talks about the photos he captured during the early hours of the I-35w bridge rescue and recovery effort.