OAK HARBOR — The Deception Pass bridge was closed Friday night while rescuers plucked two people from the girders beneath the span, according to the Island County Sheriff’s Office.
The state Department of Transportation dispatched a specialized bridge inspection truck from Everett to Island County to aid in the rescue efforts, said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the state agency.
The pair believed to be in their teens or early 20s apparently were trying to cross along the girders beneath the bridge surface. They were spotted by deputies in an Island County marine safety patrol boat.
“It sounds like they were over the water,” said Ed Wallace, a detective with the sheriff’s office.
The distance from the bridge to the water at center span is about 150 feet, Wallace said. The bridge has been the scene of several suicides over the years.
Rescuers had to limit traffic to one lane and close the bridge altogether at different points to position the rescue equipment, officials said. The rescue ended after 9 p.m.
Wallace said he can remember roughly a half-dozen other attempts to cross the bridge below deck in his 20 years with the department.
“There are a whole bunch of different charges (possible) but right now I don’t know what they will be facing if anything,” Wallace said.
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