The entire span of the 35W Bridge collapsed about 6:05 p.m. where the freeway crosses the river near University Avenue. Traffic in both directions was affected.

HCMC doctors are treating at least 28 and Dr. Joseph Clinton said at least six people were killed. All he could tell reporters was that one person had drown. He said he didn't know any more about the deceased as far as gender or age.

Dr. Clinton said he thought there were more victims of drowning at the scene, but he didn't have specific information or numbers.

Six of the 15 people being treated are in critical condition.

Mayor R.T. Rybak called this event one of the most tragic events in Minneapolis history.

He said the area is now controlled and all available resources are on site.

He asked that only those who need to use their cell phones use them and all others stay off their cell phones as emergency personnel need to use all available airwaves.

Mayor Rybak said all survivors that were on the bridge had been removed from the collapsed structure.

He added that all construction workers that were on the bridge were accounted for, except for one.

Minneapolis police chief Tim Dolan said water rescue and recovery would continue. He said the main concern right now was keeping the area secure. He said his officers were checking other bridges as a precaution, but added that foul play was not suspected.

He said the bus full of kids had been taken to safety or hospitals as need and those who were not physically injured were released to their parents.

Governor Pawlenty called this a disaster of historic proportions for the state of Minnesota.

He said he'd been in touch with state, federal and county officials and all were helping were needed. The DNR and National Guard are also on the scene.

"I was on site earlier this evening. It is obvious a catastrophe. We are doing everything we can," said Pawlenty.

There about 100,000 cars a day traveling over this bridge according to MnDOT and it is believed there were at least 50 cars on the bridge when it collapsed.

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Water Patrol crews are coming from all over the area, including St. Croix, to help Hennepin County Water Patrol. Divers are now in the water looking for survivors or the deceased.

There are reports that at least one person has been confirmed dead. HCMC has received at least 15 patients with varied degree of injuries.

Firefighters and other rescue personnel are having a hard time reaching all the injured because of the debris and the location of the collapse.

Kent Barnard of MnDOT is on the scene and he says he has never seen anything like this in his life. "The more people who stay away from the area, the better it will be for emergency personnel."

The detours being suggested Highway 280 and Interstate 94 or 694.

Bernard compared the damage to a California earthquake.

Cars are crushed under the debris and some who survived the fall are swimming in the water.

At least one vehicle, believed to be a semi truck, is on fire.

Pieces of the bridge are on the parkway, which was filled with bikers and pedestrians.

One driver who was on the bridge during the collapse said bumper to bumper traffic filled the bridge and road construction crews were slowing things down when all of the sudden the bridge dropped right around 6:00.

That motorist told Joe Fryer that there was shaking from jack hammer and then the bridge just dropped.

He said a school bus was on the bridge, but it appeared all the kids on the bus were carried off.

They were members of the Weight House swim team and a parent of one of the kids on the bus told reporter Joe Fryer that the kids were middle and elementary school aged kids.

Parents told Fryer that some of the kids were injured and others were ok.

Two teens talked to reporter Greg Vandegrift and said they helped carry a pregnant woman off the bridge and to an ambulance. They said they helped get three others to safety as well.

They were absolutely shocked when got to the scene. They said they lived nearby and heard the collapse and just ran out to see if they could help.

HCMC is in full emergency mode. The hospital has declared this an emergency situation and that means other hospitals in the area will be dedicating resources to help HCMC. They have seen 22 patients with non-critical injuries, 6 with critical and 1 fatality.

North Memorial in Robbinsdale has at least two patients.

The University of Minnesota Medical Center says they have received five patients via ambulance and that another 25 have walked into to the ER.