MINNEAPOLIS, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Recovery teams in Minnesota found a ninth victim from last week's highway bridge collapse, police said on Friday.

Four people are still listed as missing. The recovery operation since the Aug. 1 collapse has been slowed by the tangled wreckage in the murky waters of the fast-moving Mississippi River, but the body of a man and the remains from two other victims were found on Thursday.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that $50 million of the $250 million approved by Congress would be released immediately to help Minnesota with cleanup, recovery, and reconstruction of the bridge.

The Interstate 35W bridge was a vital artery that carried 140,000 vehicles a day.

"It's too early to give timetables, but we are moving expeditiously," Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said.

The investigation into the cause of the collapse will be aided by an aerial photograph taken just before the accident from a passing airliner that shows what was on the bridge and where, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker said.

The photograph shows the placement of construction equipment, which has become a focus of investigators trying to determine which part of the bridge gave way initially and whether extra weight was a factor.

The safety board has identified a potential design flaw with steel plates that help hold steel beams in place.

(Additional reporting by John Crawley in Washington)

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