on the riverbank and saw dozens of people lying dazed on an expansive deck . They were in the middle of the Mississippi River , which was churning fast , and he had no way of getting to them . He went to the north side , where there was easier access to people . Ambulances were also having a hard time driving down to the river to get closer to the scene . Working feverishly , volunteers , EMTs and other officials managed to get 55 people into ambulances in less than two hours . Occasionally , a pickup truck with a medic inside would drive to get an injured person and bring him back up even ground , Hink told CNN . The rescue effort was controlled and organized , he said ; the opposite of the lightning-quick collapse . `` I could see the whole bridge as it was going down , as it was falling , '' Babineau said . `` It just gave a rumble real quick , and it all just gave way , and it just fell completely , all the way to the ground . And there was dust everywhere and it
MINNEAPOLIS , Minnesota -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Drivers who were on the Minneapolis bridge when it collapsed told harrowing tales of survival . `` The whole bridge from one side of the Mississippi to the other just completely gave way , fell all the way down , '' survivor Gary Babineau told CNN . `` I probably had a 30 - , 35-foot free fall . And there 's cars in the water , there 's cars on fire . The whole bridge is down . '' He said his back was injured but he determined he could move around . `` I realized there was a school bus right next to me , and me and a couple of other guys went over and started lifting the kids off the bridge . They were yelling , screaming , bleeding . I think there were some broken bones . '' Watch a driver describe his narrow escape '' At home when he heard about the disaster , Dr. John Hink , an emergency room physician , jumped into his car and rushed to the scene in 15 minutes . He arrived at the south side of the bridge , stood