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   Mount Vernon, WA (ABC) - Three people were sent to the hospital after a portion of an Interstate 5 highway bridge in Mount Vernon, Wash., collapsed Thursday, dumping three vehicles into the water.

   Two people rescued from the water were suffering from hypothermia, police said. Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon, Wash., was expecting two patients taken from the accident, according to Kari Ranten, a spokeswoman. She believed the third patient was transported to another hospital.

   Officials were looking into reports of an over-sized load "immediately" causing the collapse, said Travis Phelps of the Washington State Department of Transportation and Washington State Patrol.

   "We're looking at the cause being an over-sized, over-height vehicle, striking critical portions of this bridge, causing it to collapse," he said.

   The National Transportation Safety Board said they will send a team to investigate the collapse.

   The collapse occurred on the portion of Interstate 5 over the Skagit River, about two hours north of Seattle.

   "N/B and S/B lanes of I-5 Skagit River Bridge collapsed," Washington State Trooper Mark Francis posted on Twitter. "People and cars in water."

   The collapse occurred around 7 p.m. local time and the portion of the bridge that collapsed was four lanes wide, The Associated Press reported. The vehicles plunged about 40 feet from the bridge into the river and that set off a massive rescue operation.

   A damaged red car and a damaged pickup truck were visible in the water. Helicopter footage from ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV showed several rescue boats in the Skagit River with several ambulances waiting on the shore.

   Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, told The Associated Press he could see three cars partially submerged in the water with what appeared to be one person per vehicle, with drivers on top of vehicles or sitting on open window openings.

   "It doesn't look like anybody's in danger right now," Grospe said.

   The bridge was built in 1955, according to the AP, citing federal records.

   Clean up efforts will take several days to weeks, according to Phelps. The bridge sees 77,000 cars per day, and Phelps said they are expecting significant congestion until the bridge is fixed.

   "We inspect our bridge every two years. We're not going to let anybody drive on a bridge that is deemed unsafe," Phelps said.

   The bridge was last inspected in November 2012 and deemed safe, Washington State Department of Transportation spokesman Bart Treece told ABC News.

   FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) — Police say five people are dead in a shooting at an apartment complex south of Seattle, including a suspect who was shot by officers responding to the chaotic scene.

   Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock says officers responded to a 9:30 p.m. Sunday emergency call in Federal Way of shots being fired.

   Arriving police spotted two injured men on the ground in a parking lot and one of them reached for a gun as the officers moved in to assist them.

   Schrock says officers then opened fire. The man was killed but it wasn't immediately clear if it was from police gunfire.

   The other man one the ground and another man in the parking lot were found dead.

   In a search of the complex, police found yet another man dead in one apartment and a slain woman in another.

   There was no immediate word what set off the gunfire.

JERUSALEM (AP) — President Barack Obama is set to plunge into the turbulent Middle East on a mission aimed primarily at assuring America's top ally in the region and its friends back home that it will not be forsaken amid bitter domestic political squabbles and budget crises in Washington.

Obama arrives today in Israel for his first visit to the country — and only his second to the Middle East, outside of a quick jaunt to Iraq — since taking office.

He will also be making his first trips as president to the Palestinian Authority and Jordan this week. But on an itinerary laden more with symbolism than substance, an Israel that is increasingly wary of developments in Syria and Iran will be the main focus of his attention.