Barges Knock Sections From Bridge, Killing Several Motorists and Isolating Texas Island

By Lynn Brezosky Associated Press Writer Published: Sep 15, 2001

PORT ISABEL, Texas (AP) - A group of barges smashed a 240-foot section out of the only bridge leading to popular South Padre Island early Saturday, and at least four people died after their vehicles plunged into the water 85 feet below. An unknown number of people were missing. Thirteen were rescued from the Laguna Madre, part of the Intracoastal Waterway shipping route along the Gulf Coast, and three were hospitalized.

Five vehicles were located in the 50-foot-deep water and divers took pictures of their license plates for identification, said Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu. Fishermen who witnessed it said five to 10 vehicles fell.

Rhonda Fife stood near the four-lane bridge Saturday afternoon and said she had not heard from her 18-year-old daughter, Tiffany, since she went to the island with friends late Friday.

"Nobody called and they always call," said Fife, her voice trembling.

Michael Burke, whose two sons had gone out with Tiffany, anxiously waited with Fife.

"I just want to know where my kids are at. I hope they're all right and just can't call me," Burke said.

Recovery efforts were suspended midafternoon when the third 80-foot section of the bridge collapsed, said Adrian Rivera, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. The search will resume Sunday morning.

The Coast Guard was notified around 2:30 a.m. that the tug Brown Water V and its four barges, loaded with coiled steel and phosphate, had struck the 2.37-mile-long span, the longest bridge in Texas. None of the cargo spilled.

The crash dropped two adjacent 80-foot segments of the Queen Isabella Causeway into the channel near the center of the span.

The tug operator was questioned and passed a sobriety test, officials said.

Three people died at the scene, and a fourth died at a hospital. One victim was identified as Port Isabel Fire Marshal Robert Harris, said Desi Najera, an emergency management coordinator.

One man was hospitalized in guarded condition, and two of the injured were in good condition.

The state hired two boats to serve as ferries, and was considering bringing a state-owned vehicle ferry from Corpus Christi, said Randall Dillard of the Texas Department of Transportation.

Phone lines under the bridge were severed, as was a water pipe, so ATM and credit card machines weren't working and water is limited to existing stores on the island.

South Padre Island has 2,000 permanent residents, and island hotels were about 70 percent booked for the weekend. Most tourists on the island came to celebrate Mexico's Diez y Seis de Septiembre independence day.

In addition, thousands of volunteers had been expected Saturday to help with beach cleanup, part of Adopt-A-Beach day, said local home builder Clayton Brashear.

The island is a Spring Break mecca, when crowds of up to 200,000 students stay on the island or in nearby cities.

The barges were owned by American Commercial Lines LLC of Jeffersonville, Ind., and were being pushed by a tugboat owned by Brown Water Marine Services Inc. of Rockport, said American Commercial assistant vice president Jim Adams.

They were loaded in Brownsville and destined for Tennessee, Adams said.

Officials of Brown Water Marine Service did not return repeated telephone calls from The Associated Press on Saturday.

AP-ES-09-15-01 2327EDT

-- Anonymous, September 16, 2001