Chicago's Bridges: How Safe are They?; 'All of a sudden, things weren't on the ground anymore'

Amid all the death in the bridge collapse were untold scores ofpeople amazed to have survived the fall.

"The first vehicle we came up on was completely submerged andcrushed," police Sgt. Ed Nelson said. "I asked a gentleman if he sawanybody get out of that vehicle. He looked at me and said, 'That wasme.' "

Melissa Hughes, a warehouse manager, remembers the view from thebridge tumbling around her.

"All of a sudden, things were up in the air. Things weren't onthe ground anymore," she said. "I swear I saw a construction workerin mid-air. Then I had that free-falling feeling."

As suddenly as it plunged, her car had stopped. Then she heard ahuge crash as her back window exploded. Later, looking over thescene, she realized the noise had come from a black pickup truckthat had flipped and fallen on top of her car.

"I heard people yelling. There was one person standing outsidethe vehicle just screaming in pain, grabbing his back and justfalling to his knees."

Jay Reeves, driving home from his office at the American RedCross, saw the bridge collapse. The first thing he heard waschildren's voices from inside a bus.

"Screaming kids are good," Reeves said. "That means they're aliveand full of a lot of energy."