MINNEAPOLIS – Divers pulled two more bodies from the wreckage of the collapsed Mississippi River bridge yesterday, bringing the disaster’s confirmed death toll to seven, more than a week after the span crumbled.

Crews have been searching for at least eight people missing and presumed killed in the August 1 collapse, including a mother and her young daughter and another woman and her adult son.

One of the two bodies recovered yesterday was identified as Peter Joseph Hausmann, 47, of suburban Rosemount. Police did not identify the other victim or say whether the bodies were found together. “Right now, the first priority is notifying the families,” the police homicide unit commander, Dave Hayhoe, said.

As searchers combed the river for victims, federal officials looking into the cause of the collapse issued an advisory for states to inspect the metal plates that hold girders together on bridges nationwide. Investigators said the gussets on the failed Minneapolis bridge were originally attached with rivets, old technology that’s more likely to slip than the bolts used in bridges today.

Some of the plates, or gussets, also may have been weakened by welding work over the years and some of them may have been too thin, engineering experts said yesterday. Questions about the gussets prompted Transportation Secretary Mary Peters to caution states about stress placed on bridges during construction projects. Investigators are also looking at whether extra weight from construction work could have affected the bridge. An 18-person crew had been working on the Interstate 35W span when it collapsed during the evening rush hour.