A truck hauling an oversized load struck an overhead bridge girder on a major interstate between Seattle, Washington, and Canada, sending a section of the span and two vehicles into the Skagit River below, authorities said Friday. The incident occurred late Thursday on the north part of the four-lane Interstate 5 bridge near Mount Vernon, roughly 97 kilometers north of Seattle and 64 kilometers south of the Canadian border, disrupting travel in both directions. It was not initially clear if the bridge gave way on its own. But at an early Friday news conference, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste blamed it on a tractor-trailer carrying an oversize load that hit an upper part of the span. The vertical clearance from the roadway to the beam is four meters. "For reasons unknown at this point in time, the semi struck the overhead of the bridge causing the collapse," Batiste said. The truck made it off the bridge and the driver remained at the scene to cooperate with investigators. Authorities have not yet said what the truck was carrying. Two other vehicles went into the water about 8 meters below as the structure crumbled. Three people were rescued and were recovering Friday.
