RI bridge threatens to collapse; hundreds evacuate

[April 20, 2010]  COVENTRY, R.I. (AP) -- A neighborhood has been evacuated in Rhode Island because officials fear a bridge upstream will collapse amid flooding.

Coventry Police Col. Ronald Da Silva said Wednesday that the abutments on a bridge over the Pawtuxet River (paw-TUX'-it) have washed out.

Town Manager Tom Hoover says hundreds of people have been evacuated in the town, total.

A corner of a building near the bridge has already fallen in. Authorities say there is a risk that more of it could collapse.

The bridge is about 200 feet long and two lanes wide.

[Associated Press]

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