[Arneldo]

A catastrophic bridge collapse in the US has left at least three people dead and sent cars, lorries and pedestrians plunging into the Mississippi river below.

US news channel Fox News reports that at least 20-30 people are injured.

Dramatic TV pictures show at least three sections of the bridge in the river with cars and lorries hanging over the edge of the structure.

The disaster happened at the height of the US rush hour - the bridge was packed with nose-to-nose traffic when the structure gave way at several points with a terrific "boom".

Cars and lorries are in the river while a lorry is on fire on one section of the bridge that is upright.

TV footage shows other vehicles piled on top of each other.

A train is lying crushed underneath one section of the rubble - one report said it had been cut in two.

"This is not good, there are some bad things out there," one witness told Fox News.

"I hope and pray for those people."

Between 50-100 cars were on the bridge at the time - one report says around 50 cars fell into the river.

One US news report says a school bus with children onboard stopped just feet away from plunging into the river.

US Homeland Security said there was no reason to believe terrorism was behind the disaster.

It said the department was monitoring the situation.

Witnesses said they heard a roar shortly before the structure disintegrated.

Sky News

[Lauren]

Omg, RIP those who have died A terrible tragedy.
I hope more don't die... this is horrible. A disaster that could have been avoided with more planning.

[Rory]

I've been on that bridge a few times, seeing as my dad used to work in Minneapolis.

It's a horrible tragedy. Right now 6 people have been confirmed dead.

[MarkWaldorf]

RIP Shame how a lot of these tragedies are taking place in the US right now. Last week I remember hearing about a two planes crashing into each other and killing a few people.