BEIJING : At least 22 people were killed and 46 remain missing
after a bridge being built in central China collapsed just before
it was to be put into use, authorities said on Tuesday.
The 268-metre (885-foot) bridge over the Tuo river in Hunan
province collapsed on Monday as workers were removing steel
scaffolding erected during the construction process, the State
Administration of Work Safety said.
The death toll from the accident is 22, with 46 missing and 22
injured, the administration said in a statement posted on its
website.
Pictures of the disaster scene on Chinese news websites showed a
long stretch of concrete chunks crumbled into the river in
Fenghuang county.
"It was unbelievable," the official Xinhua news agency quoted a
local resident identified only by his surname, Jiang, as
saying.
"There were people crying everywhere and hundreds of people were
trying to help the rescue effort," he said.
The work safety administration and Xinhua gave no reason for the
bridge's collapse.
Fenghuang is a hilly area popular with Chinese tourists due to its
scenery and numerous examples of ancient architecture. -
AFP/ch
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/293851/1/.html
