Divers find another body in bridge collapse

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Divers removed another body from the wreckage of a freeway bridge Friday, while the federal transportation secretary offered $50 million to help with recovery and rebuilding.

The known death toll from last week’s collapse reached eight when Navy divers found a body about noon.

The body belonged to Sadiya Sahal, 23, of St. Paul. A body found Thursday was identified as her 2-year-old daughter, Hanah Sahal. Both had been on the list of missing.

Those identifications reduce the list of known missing and presumed dead to five. The medical examiner had initially said remains found Thursday might have belonged to two people, but later clarified that one set of remains was recovered Thursday and another on Friday.

During her visit, Secretary Mary Peters stood near a fallen section of the bridge cluttered by wrecked cars as she announced the latest emergency aid. The funds are an advance on $250 million approved by Congress but not yet appropriated.

The money comes on top of $5 million in federal emergency aid pledged right after the Aug. 1 bridge collapse and $5 million to help the public transit system handle the loss of the heavily traveled span.

Sadiya Sahal, who was five months pregnant, was on her way to pick up a friend who needed a ride to work when the bridge collapsed. The nursing student had moved to the Twin Cities from Somalia in 2000.