U.S. Navy divers pulled another body from the Mississippi River Sunday as the search resumed in Minneapolis for people still missing after a bridge collapse 11 days ago.

The body was identified as Richard Chit, 20, of St. Anthony, Minn. His mother, Vera Peck, 50, of Bloomington, is among the four people still missing.

Workers remove a school bus from the Interstate 35W bridge collapse site in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday.
(Nati Harnik/Associated Press)

Sunday's discovery brings the confirmed death toll from the bridge collapse to nine.

Divers had gone back into the river a short time earlier, while cranes removed a school bus and other vehicles from the ends of the fallen span.

The divers were out of the water overnight after a thunderstorm forced them to quit about two hours early on Saturday, Navy spokesman Dave Nagle said. River currents were strengthened after as much as 50 millimetres of rain fell on the region.

The bus was among 44 vehicles hoisted off the Interstate 35W bridge, out of roughly 100 on the span when it fell on Aug. 1, said Kevin Gutknecht, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Most vehicles on the bridge's north end had been removed, and Gutknecht said work would focus on the south end for the next day or two.

The yellow school bus became a symbol of a disaster that could have been worse. Everyone on board — 52 children and several adults — escaped alive.

So far, removal crews have cleared cars from parts of the bridge that fell on to land. They have equipment positioned to start major debris removal once the recovery efforts are finished.

About 100 people were injured in the collapse, but only eight remained in hospital, their conditions ranging from serious to good.