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Schoolchildren struggled to escape
NY TIMES.com
August 2, 2007
Schoolchildren Struggled to Escape By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
They all said the same thing: It was as if they were suddenly in a movie.
As an Interstate highway bridge that spanned the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis shook and began to crumble on Wednesday night, dozens of people in slow traffic were tossed into chaos — and immediately, an ordinary afternoon commute became a scene too surreal to fathom.
The survivors spoke of cars being tossed and thrown in every direction. They described a freefall of more than 50 feet that came without warning but seemed to last forever. And they spoke of desperate struggles to escape the cold, murky waters of the Mississippi — to swim to safety, to stay alive.
But for many survivors, one of the scariest sights of all was a yellow school bus sitting atop the rubble. Inside were 50 small children — some as young as 4 years old — who had been on their way to a swimming pool, but now were screaming and crying.
“They were all thinking they were going to die,” Jeremy Hernandez, a 20-year-old camp counselor who was on the bus, said at a televised news conference in Minneapolis this afternoon. “You could hear kids moaning and crying. Then they all just started screaming, ‘We’re going to go into the river, we’re going into the river.’ ”
As survivors in other cars that were scattered throughout the rubble climbed to safety, the 50 children and their counselors realized that they were trapped inside their bus, which was wedged against an edge of the bridge with the main entrance blocked. Even after the bridge completely collapsed, it appeared to those on the bus that the worst was not over. They could feel the bus beginning to slide down the bridge, edging closer and closer to the water.
Soon they realized there was only one quick way to get out: through an escape door in the back.
“At that point I just jumped out of my seat and ran to the back and kicked out the door,” Mr. Hernandez said. “I could feel the bridge still shaking. Then people were running up to the bus. I just remember grabbing kids and putting them out, grabbing kids and putting them out.”
Children were strewn about the bus, many of them badly hurt and bleeding or complaining of chest pains and other injuries caused by being thrown against their seats. One child, Olivia Reynolds, 12 years old, said that as the bus dropped into a rapid freefall, all she could do was hold on as if she were on a roller coaster.
“I ducked down, and didn’t really move, but it was really jerky,” she said in an interview with Fox News today. “It was moving side to side. I was still in my seat sitting down. The other kids were screaming and yelling and crying. Some of them were hurt.”
Another student, Nina Jenkins, 12 years old, said that everyone on the bus was in a hurry to get out, worried that another crash or explosion — whatever had just hit them — was seconds away.
“A lot of people hurt their legs like I did, because they were jumping from a bus that was really high,” she said.
Even as they crawled through the small opening, many of the survivors did not know what to do.
“The kids didn’t want anybody to leave them,” Mr. Hernandez said. “They just didn’t want to let go of anyone. They wouldn’t believe they were safe until they saw their parents.”
Olivia’s father, Jay Reynolds, who was also interviewed on Fox News, said he raced to the scene after hearing from relatives that his daughter might have been on the bus. Just as he arrived at the river and realized the enormity of what happened, he said, his daughter called him from a friend’s cellphone, telling him that she — like everyone else that had been on the bus — was frightened but still alive.
“Just to hear her voice, even to cry and whimper, it was just a relief to know that she was ok,” he said. “Every possible thought was running through my head. Every possible feeling was running through me. To have the thought of losing the most precious and dear thing to me in my life — I just couldn’t fathom losing the thing that I love the most.”
Schoolchildren struggled to escape
NY TIMES.com
August 2, 2007
Schoolchildren Struggled to Escape By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
They all said the same thing: It was as if they were suddenly in a movie.
As an Interstate highway bridge that spanned the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis shook and began to crumble on Wednesday night, dozens of people in slow traffic were tossed into chaos — and immediately, an ordinary afternoon commute became a scene too surreal to fathom.
The survivors spoke of cars being tossed and thrown in every direction. They described a freefall of more than 50 feet that came without warning but seemed to last forever. And they spoke of desperate struggles to escape the cold, murky waters of the Mississippi — to swim to safety, to stay alive.
But for many survivors, one of the scariest sights of all was a yellow school bus sitting atop the rubble. Inside were 50 small children — some as young as 4 years old — who had been on their way to a swimming pool, but now were screaming and crying.
“They were all thinking they were going to die,” Jeremy Hernandez, a 20-year-old camp counselor who was on the bus, said at a televised news conference in Minneapolis this afternoon. “You could hear kids moaning and crying. Then they all just started screaming, ‘We’re going to go into the river, we’re going into the river.’ ”
As survivors in other cars that were scattered throughout the rubble climbed to safety, the 50 children and their counselors realized that they were trapped inside their bus, which was wedged against an edge of the bridge with the main entrance blocked. Even after the bridge completely collapsed, it appeared to those on the bus that the worst was not over. They could feel the bus beginning to slide down the bridge, edging closer and closer to the water.
Soon they realized there was only one quick way to get out: through an escape door in the back.
“At that point I just jumped out of my seat and ran to the back and kicked out the door,” Mr. Hernandez said. “I could feel the bridge still shaking. Then people were running up to the bus. I just remember grabbing kids and putting them out, grabbing kids and putting them out.”
Children were strewn about the bus, many of them badly hurt and bleeding or complaining of chest pains and other injuries caused by being thrown against their seats. One child, Olivia Reynolds, 12 years old, said that as the bus dropped into a rapid freefall, all she could do was hold on as if she were on a roller coaster.
“I ducked down, and didn’t really move, but it was really jerky,” she said in an interview with Fox News today. “It was moving side to side. I was still in my seat sitting down. The other kids were screaming and yelling and crying. Some of them were hurt.”
Another student, Nina Jenkins, 12 years old, said that everyone on the bus was in a hurry to get out, worried that another crash or explosion — whatever had just hit them — was seconds away.
“A lot of people hurt their legs like I did, because they were jumping from a bus that was really high,” she said.
Even as they crawled through the small opening, many of the survivors did not know what to do.
“The kids didn’t want anybody to leave them,” Mr. Hernandez said. “They just didn’t want to let go of anyone. They wouldn’t believe they were safe until they saw their parents.”
Olivia’s father, Jay Reynolds, who was also interviewed on Fox News, said he raced to the scene after hearing from relatives that his daughter might have been on the bus. Just as he arrived at the river and realized the enormity of what happened, he said, his daughter called him from a friend’s cellphone, telling him that she — like everyone else that had been on the bus — was frightened but still alive.
“Just to hear her voice, even to cry and whimper, it was just a relief to know that she was ok,” he said. “Every possible thought was running through my head. Every possible feeling was running through me. To have the thought of losing the most precious and dear thing to me in my life — I just couldn’t fathom losing the thing that I love the most.”