Bloodied but alert, the woman was placed on a stretcher and wheeled to a waiting ambulance. As she was freed, the crowd broke into applause.
As of 4:15 p.m, traffic was blocked on Four Mile Run Drive and on eastbound Columbia Pike near the accident. There were significant delays on westbound Columbia Pike approaching the accident.
A man reportedly fell and injured himself on one of the rocky cliffs overlooking the Potomac near Chain Bridge this afternoon. The Park Police Eagle 1 helicopter and an Arlington County technical rescue squad were dispatched to the scene to help rescue the man after it was reported that he was trapped.
Paramedics are now walking the man to safety.
The Airports Authority will be conducting a simulated plane crash exercise, featuring numerous boats and helicopters, river rescues of live “victims,” and some pyrotechnics to boot.
The exercise will take place from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., primarily on the southern end of the airport.
Now a “proud Arlington resident,” Walker recounted her survival story for the county-run Arlington Virginia Network. She recalled how she had a suitcase packed when Katrina hit, because she had been booked to go on a Carnival Cruise later that week. She also recounted how the kindness of a stranger helped her survive the ordeal.
Walker made it to Arlington by accident. She was on a flight to Houston to stay with family when the captain announced that Texas was no longer taking refugees and that the flight was now going to Washington, DC. Arlington, Walker said, put out the welcome mat after she arrived and she has been here ever since.
Update at 11:20 a.m. — Per DC Fire & EMS: The injured worker has been extricated and is being taken via fire boat to a waiting ambulance at the Columbia Island Marina. Most of the emergency vehicles on the bridge have cleared out, although the lane restrictions have not been lifted yet.
Update at 11:45 a.m. — All lanes on the bridge have reopened.
