Vehicles fall into river as bridge collapses

AFP/BeijingSeveral vehicles and pedestrians were swept down a flooded river after a bridge collapsed in south-western China’s Sichuan province yesterday.  A middle section of the Qinglian Bridge fell into the swollen Panjiang river near Sichuan’s Jiangyou city yesterday morning, according to reports and photographs by state media.   The number of people missing remained unclear but the local government said only three passenger vehicles and one truck plunged into the river.    Earlier state media reports said around 10 vehicles fell from the bridge, while the semi-official China News Service said the missing vehicles included two public buses.   The agency quoted local residents as saying the bridge was busy with vehicles and pedestrians because it was a market day in nearby Qinglian village. Rescue teams had pulled five people from the river, which was in flood after heavy rain this month, it said.  The official Xinhua news agency said an initial investigation suggested that floodwater battering the bridge at 7,000 cubic metres per second “may be to blame for the collapse”.  The 200m bridge was built in 1967 and strengthened after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan in 2008. It was suitable for vehicles weighing up to 10 tons, Xinhua said.