Feds release $5M grant for bridge cleanup

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Minneapolis will get a $5 million federal grant for cleanup and recovery of the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.

News of the grant came as recovery operations resumed Thursday in and along the banks of the Mississippi River, where the bridge and vehicles plummeted Wednesday during evening rush hour.

Four people were confirmed dead, officials said, adding that they expected that number to change during the day, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis reported.

Scores of people were injured and 20 to 30 people were reported still missing at midday Thursday. Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek and Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said cars are trapped under water beneath chunks of concrete.

U.S. Sens. Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar said they would push to get more than $100 million to rebuild the bridge. They said they would try get the limit on federal aid available lifted to pay for the work.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying that he would work with Klobuchar to get $250 million in federal assistance for the bridge and to have the aid exempted from the cap on federal highway funds.

Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said, "The investigation has already begun" into why the bridge collapsed.

The NTSB has assigned 19 investigators to the probe, which could take up to a year to complete.