Search suspended for bridge victims

Families of the missing waited a third agonizing day for word that any bodies were found.

“The dive itself has been suspended due to moving debris,” said Mary Jerde, a spokeswoman for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

The number of dead stood at five as new details emerged about the eight or more victims believed trapped in the wreckage.

The missing include Christine Sacorafas, 45, a recent transplant to Minnesota who was on her way to teach a Greek folk dancing class; Greg Jolstad, 45, a construction worker who was operating a skid loader on the bridge; Peter Hausmann, 47, a former missionary heading to pick up a friend; and Somali immigrant Sadiya Sahal, 23, a pregnant nursing student traveling with her 2-year-old daughter, Hanah.

Of the roughly 100 injured, 24 remained hospitalized Saturday, five in critical condition.

President Bush took an aerial tour of the damage Saturday morning, then went to the scene to speak with a construction worker who helped rescue children. After walking around the site, Bush went to a makeshift command post where he spoke with the families of two victims, as well as first responders and rescue workers.

Bush praised the divers and all those who rushed to help victims of Wednesday’s collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge, a major Twin Cities artery.

“There’s a lot of people here in the Twin Cities whose first instinct was to save the lives of people who were hurting,” Bush said.

The president pledged to help cut the red tape to reconstruct the bridge, but could not promise how quickly the project would take place. The eight-lane bridge, which came tumbling down in just seconds during evening rush hour, once carried 141,000 vehicles a day.

Minnesota’s legislative leaders began putting lawmakers on standby for a post-Labor Day special session. Pawlenty, in a huge political concession, announced he is willing to reverse his longstanding opposition to a state gas tax increase.