MINNEAPOLIS -- The I-35 bridge disaster over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis Wednesday is the latest of at least three major incidents involving bridges or overpasses in the U.S. this year.

The 40-year-old bridge, which stretches between Minneapolis and St. Paul, collapsed over the river just after 6 p.m. According to local media reports, as many as 50 cars plunged into the river and onto the land below. The fatality report from the city has been estimated at four so far, with an additional 20 people unaccounted for.

The disaster in Minneapolis came one day after a highway overpass under construction in Oroville, Calif., collapsed, crushing a delivery truck and seriously injuring a construction worker who fell 50 feet.

Slideshow: Major Bridge Disasters

The third major bridge collapse this year dates back to April, when a section of freeway that funnels traffic off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed after a gasoline tanker truck overturned and erupted into flames. Only the truck driver was injured.

Previous Disasters

The deadliest bridge collapse in the U.S. since 1980 occurred on May 9, 1980, when 35 people were killed in the collapse of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, Fla., after a ship hit it during a storm.

Here is a look at other bridge disasters in the past 20 years.

2006: The Autoroute 19 Overpass collapsed in Laval, Quebec, Canada, killing five and injuring six.

2005: A rail disaster in India killed 114 people when a flood washed a rail bridge away.

2005: A section of a highway bridge under construction in southern Spain collapsed, killing six people.

2002: the Interstate 40 bridge disaster in Webbers Falls, Okla ., collapsed a 500-foot section of a bridge over the Arkansas River, killing 14 people. A barge struck one pier of the bridge causing the partial collapse.

2002: Two bridges in central China collapsed, killing a combined 19 people.

2001: The Queen Isabella Causeway in Texas collapsed after a tow boat captain lost control of a string of barges and currents drove them into a bridge support. Eight people died when their vehicles plummeted 85 feet into the channel.

2001: A bridge collapse in Lisbon, Portugal, caused a tour bus to plunge into a river, killing more than 50 people.

1994: The Seongsu Bridge collapsed in Seoul, South Korea, killing 32 and injuring 17.

1987: A total collapse of the Schoharie Creek Thruway Bridge in Amsterdam, N.Y., killed 10.