MINNEAPOLIS - Construction crews continued the nearly around-the-clock removal of debris from the site of the interstate bridge collapse, after the bodies of two victims were recovered from vehicles pulled from the Mississippi River.
The recovery of the two bodies Thursday brings the total number of those killed in the Aug. 1 collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge to 11.
The Hennepin County medical examiner's office identified the remains as belonging to Vera Peck, 50, of St. Anthony, and Christina Sacorafas, 45, of White Bear Lake.
"Obviously we are in the mourning mode right now," said David Chit, Peck's ex-husband. Peck had been in a car with her 20-year-old son, Richard Chit, whose body was recovered over the weekend.
The Rev. Paul Paris, pastor at the church Sacorafas attended, St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis, said it was a relief that her body had been found. Sacorafas had been driving to church to teach a Greek folk dancing class the evening of the bridge collapse.
Divers were expected to continue searching Friday for the last two missing people believed killed -- Scott Sathers, 28, of Maple Grove, and Greg Jolstad, 45, of Mora.
Navy dive team spokesman Randy Mitchell said the operation was shifting back and forth between diving and debris removal. He said work had been ongoing more or less around-the-clock for the past few days.
"The infrastructure of the bridge is creating problems for them to get into areas and locate other vehicles," Mitchell said.
Construction crews have had to use torches to cut some larger pieces of debris into smaller chunks to enable the crane to lift them, Mitchell said. Once a sizable portion is out of the way, divers "go in and reassess that spot," he said.
