Powerful currents that collapsed and swallowed a temporary one-lane bridge over the Great Miami River prevented authorities from finding any victims or their vehicles on Saturday.
The American Red Cross said seven people remained unaccounted for, but there was no way to know how many of them might have been on the bridge when it fell into the river Friday evening. Authorities said efforts to find them could be thwarted for at least several days by the rushing, muddy water.Officials are uncertain how many vehicles plunged into the river when a 100-foot section of the bridge collapsed. Eyewitness accounts differed, but authorities believed at least two vehicles were on the bridge section when it gave out. The number of passengers aboard was unclear.
"We still have no idea," said Capt. Arthur Reid of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department.
The river, a tributary of the Ohio River, jumped its banks Friday following heavy overnight rains that took two lives elsewhere in Ohio and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage in Illinois.
County engineers said the bridge was ordered closed a few minutes before the collapse because of the danger from debris pinned against it, but the order had not been carried out when the bridge collapsed.
The river was searched Saturday by helicopter, but no trace of vehicles or victims was found. Authorities tried to use an air-supported boat but without success.
The river crested early Saturday at about 24 feet, 8 feet over flood stage.
"Now it's just a matter of time before it starts receding," Reid said.
The fast-flowing river, littered with trees, tires and other debris, left searchers virtually helpless. Reid said recovery efforts will be stalled until the waters subside.
"You can't even put divers out - it's too dangerous," Reid said. "Our boats can't handle the swift currents."
The bridge collapsed at Miami-town, a town of 700 people about seven miles from Cincinnati on the western side of Hamilton County. Dozens of people gathered at the ends of the bridge Saturday, craning their necks to see the missing section.
Chaplains from the sheriff's department were at the scene in case counseling was needed, but the Rev. Bruno Kremp said there wasn't much for them to do because of the lingering uncertainty over the victims' identities.
The one-lane temporary bridge has been in use for only a few months.