A bridge on one of the busiest interstate highways of Washington State, in the north-western United States, collapsed Friday, tossing cars and passengers into a river, news reports said. Three people were injured but there were no fatalities in the incident, which occurred about 0200 GMT Friday, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Two cars and one trailer fell into the Skagit river when the bridge collapsed, the report said. Three people believed to be inside the vehicles were rescued and taken to a nearby medical centre. Three rescue boats, several private vessels and divers arrived atthe scene, with crowds lining the river banks and watching, the Go Skagit local news website said. Investigators from the state's Department of Transportation were trying to determine whether an oversized load may have caused the collapse, the Post-Intelligencer said. The department had described the bridge as sound and safe as recently as 2008. "Our state bridge engineer is looking into the possibility that an oversize load may have struck the bridge," the report quoted a department spokesperson as saying via Twitter. A National Transportation Safety Board team was also en route to investigate the collapse, it said.
