Pittsburgh bridge collapse

Pittsburgh bridge collapses ahead of President Biden's visit to tout infrastructure needs

Biden told reporters after landing near Pittsburgh early in the afternoon that he planned to go the site of the collapse.

After the snow-covered span collapsed into a ravine around 6am local time (midnight NZT), rescue workers rappelled at least 46 metres into the gully, and used ropes to help pull people to safety, Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones said.

"They helped the fire-fighters that were here initially on scene, also did like a daisy chain, with hands just grabbing people and pulling them up," Jones said.