Pregnant woman's body found in bridge wreckage; death toll is 8
Pastor Dale Morgan
Pregnant woman's body found in bridge wreckage; death toll is 8*
By The Associated Press
Saturday, August 11, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS -- Divers removed an eighth body from the wreckage of a
freeway bridge Friday, while the federal transportation secretary
offered $50 million to help with recovery and rebuilding.
Navy divers found Sadiya Sahal, 23, of St. Paul, who was five months
pregnant, about noon. A body found Thursday was identified yesterday as
her 2-year-old daughter, Hanah. They had been on the list of missing.
Those identifications reduced the list of known missing and presumed
dead to five.
During her visit, Secretary Mary Peters stood near a fallen section of
the bridge cluttered by wrecked cars as she announced the latest
emergency aid. The funds are an advance on $250 million approved by
Congress but not yet appropriated.
The money is on top of $5 million in federal emergency aid pledged right
after the Aug. 1 bridge collapse and $5 million to help the public
transit system handle the loss of the heavily traveled span.
The secretary later stopped by a bus garage to promise $5 million more
for transit. Transit officials have added express bus routes since the
collapse and said the federal money will help cover the costs. The
Interstate 35W bridge carried 140,000 vehicles a day, making it one of
Minnesota's busiest.