6 missing as runaway boat brings down bridge
By Zha Minjie |
May 14, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AT least six people are missing after a bridge collapsed yesterday morning in central China's Hunan Province, local authorities said.
The Fangu Bridge, which connects two townships in Pingjiang County, collapsed at around 8:50am after one of its piers was hit by a sand dredger flushed downstream by floods, said an official with the county's transportation authorities. The bridge was about 120 meters long and 5 meters wide.
At least nine people fell into the Changjiang River when it collapsed, a spokesman for the county government said.
Three people were rescued and rushed to hospital and rescuers are still trying to locate the missing six, the spokesman said.
Six hours of rain early on Saturday pushed up water levels in the Changjiang River by 3 to 4 meters, said Li Zuoru, a local village official.
The bridge had been shut by transportation authorities since Saturday morning because of the heavy rains which had led to the collapse of 3,500 homes in the county and forced more than 28,880 people to evacuate, Xinhua news agency said.
Despite the bridge being declared off-limits to vehicles and pedestrians, some villagers chose to ignore the warnings and continued to cross, officials said.
Witnesses said there were people riding motorcycles on the bridge when it collapsed.
Heavy rainstorms have been hitting central and southern China since Saturday with reports of flooding in many towns and cities.
In Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, one tourist was killed and another was missing after a group of seven were on board a boat which was swamped by waves in the stormy weather.
Residents in Jiangxi Province's Nanchang said driving in the city was like driving a boat. Many cars were submerged under water and residents' homes were flooded.
Forecasters said the rain was expected to continue over the next three days, especially in southern China, and rainfall alerts had been issued.
The National Meteorological Center urged local authorities in the area to strengthen monitoring and guard against possible geological disasters such as landslides.
Up to 150 millimeters of rain is expected in parts of Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, the center said.
Shanghai airport authorities said yesterday that nearly 40 international flights were affected because of problems with flights from southern China which were connecting to flights at Pudong. The international flights experienced delays from one hour to more than three hours.
The Fangu Bridge, which connects two townships in Pingjiang County, collapsed at around 8:50am after one of its piers was hit by a sand dredger flushed downstream by floods, said an official with the county's transportation authorities. The bridge was about 120 meters long and 5 meters wide.
At least nine people fell into the Changjiang River when it collapsed, a spokesman for the county government said.
Three people were rescued and rushed to hospital and rescuers are still trying to locate the missing six, the spokesman said.
Six hours of rain early on Saturday pushed up water levels in the Changjiang River by 3 to 4 meters, said Li Zuoru, a local village official.
The bridge had been shut by transportation authorities since Saturday morning because of the heavy rains which had led to the collapse of 3,500 homes in the county and forced more than 28,880 people to evacuate, Xinhua news agency said.
Despite the bridge being declared off-limits to vehicles and pedestrians, some villagers chose to ignore the warnings and continued to cross, officials said.
Witnesses said there were people riding motorcycles on the bridge when it collapsed.
Heavy rainstorms have been hitting central and southern China since Saturday with reports of flooding in many towns and cities.
In Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, one tourist was killed and another was missing after a group of seven were on board a boat which was swamped by waves in the stormy weather.
Residents in Jiangxi Province's Nanchang said driving in the city was like driving a boat. Many cars were submerged under water and residents' homes were flooded.
Forecasters said the rain was expected to continue over the next three days, especially in southern China, and rainfall alerts had been issued.
The National Meteorological Center urged local authorities in the area to strengthen monitoring and guard against possible geological disasters such as landslides.
Up to 150 millimeters of rain is expected in parts of Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, the center said.
Shanghai airport authorities said yesterday that nearly 40 international flights were affected because of problems with flights from southern China which were connecting to flights at Pudong. The international flights experienced delays from one hour to more than three hours.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
