WCCO's Jason DeRusha To Host Reddit AMA On Your Bridge Collapse Questions

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- One decade later, Minnesota is taking some time to remember the day the 35W Bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed.

In the first hours after the collapse, officials were speculating that more than 100 people were dead given the amount of traffic on the bridge at that time of day. In the end 13 people lost their lives, but hundreds more were injured.

Like for so many of you, that day to us at WCCO was personal. One of the first reporters on the scene was Jason DeRusha, who phoned the breaking news back to WCCO viewers as the first pictures were coming in.

"We first heard over the police radio talk of a bridge collapse a 911 call that came in and we were thinking maybe it was a sinkhole, a large pothole. The idea that the entire bridge could collapse into the river was inconceivable," DeRusha remembered. "It was the absolute worst thing that happened in the modern history of this state."

DeRusha said that the event still feels as raw today as it did in 2007.

"I think about Jeremy Hernandez all the time. That interview with him, I can remember just about everything he said," DeRusha said. "I looked at him and said, 'How many kids did you help?' And he said, 'All of them.'"

On Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. (CST), DeRusha is hosting an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit, where you can ask him anything about the bridge collapse and its aftermath.

Here's how you can participate in DeRusha's AMA on Tuesday:

• Create a Reddit account if you do not have one.
• There's also an app available on the App Store or Google Play.
• CLICK HERE TO BE DIRECTED TO JASON DERUSHA'S AMA