CHELAN FALLS — Divers are searching for the driver and any possible occupants of a semi-tractor that plunged off the Beebe Bridge into the Columbia River just after 5 p.m. Monday.
The accident tore a vertical support girder off the bridge, and the bridge will remain closed until a state Department of Transportation team can inspect it for structural safety, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Dave Phelps.
The driver was carrying a load red delicious apples from Trout Blue Chelan southbound on Highway 97, and was about a quarter of the way across the bridge, when the accident happened.
“For some reason, the driver took a hard left turn through the railing,” Phelps said.
The cab of the tractor-trailer rig broke through the railing, detached from the trailer and fell into the river.
Phelps said the driver had not been located and it was unknown if anyone else was riding in the cab. Phelps said he also did not know if another vehicle was involved in the crash and also went off the bridge.
A Chelan County dive team arrived around 7 p.m. to begin searching for the submerged cab.
A Chelan County fire crew was using a boat and floatation booms to try and contain diesel fuel leaking from the refrigeration unit of the submerged cab. Private boaters were also picking up personal items from the cab that were floating in the water, including a duffel bag. However, no identification had been found yet, Phelps said.
The rig’s trailer was lodged sideways across the bridge, with part of it jutting through the broken railing. Boxes of apples were spilled on the bridge deck.
