PORT ISABEL – The start of this weekend marks the 16th anniversary of the collapse of the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway.

A memorial ceremony was held Friday, Sept. 15 to remember the victims who lost their lives.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 15, 2001, a barge hit the bridge knocking out one of the concrete pillars. A portion of the bridge, at its highest point, crashed down.

Several drivers, crossing the causeway and unable to see what had happened, fell to the water below.

Eight people were killed and three survived.