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Hunt for survivors after Indonesia bridge collapse
Source: Agencies |
November 27, 2011, Sunday
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RESCUERS hunted for survivors today after a busy bridge spanning the Mahakam river in Indonesia's Borneo island collapsed, killing four people and injuring 19 others, officials said.
A public bus, cars and motorcycles plunged into Mahakam river in Kutai Kartanegara district after the 720-metre-long (yards) structure -- built to resemble San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge -- collapsed yesterday.
"We have recovered four bodies and rescued 39 people," search and rescue agency head Harmoni Adi in East Kalimantan province told AFP.
"Rescuers are diving in the river to search for survivors but it's difficult because of low visibility under water and strong currents. I don't know if we can find more survivors but the search will continue," he added.
The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear, but disaster management agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said a steel support cable snapped as workers were repairing it.
"That probably caused the collapse," he told AFP.
"We don't know how many people exactly were missing. Several of them were workers," he said.
The incident injured 19 -- 10 of them seriously, said Nugroho, who are now in stable condition.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered an investigation into the accident.
The bridge was reportedly built in 2002 over the Mahakam river -- the longest in East Kalimantan -- and linked the towns of Tenggarong and Tenggarong Seberang in the province.
A public bus, cars and motorcycles plunged into Mahakam river in Kutai Kartanegara district after the 720-metre-long (yards) structure -- built to resemble San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge -- collapsed yesterday.
"We have recovered four bodies and rescued 39 people," search and rescue agency head Harmoni Adi in East Kalimantan province told AFP.
"Rescuers are diving in the river to search for survivors but it's difficult because of low visibility under water and strong currents. I don't know if we can find more survivors but the search will continue," he added.
The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear, but disaster management agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said a steel support cable snapped as workers were repairing it.
"That probably caused the collapse," he told AFP.
"We don't know how many people exactly were missing. Several of them were workers," he said.
The incident injured 19 -- 10 of them seriously, said Nugroho, who are now in stable condition.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered an investigation into the accident.
The bridge was reportedly built in 2002 over the Mahakam river -- the longest in East Kalimantan -- and linked the towns of Tenggarong and Tenggarong Seberang in the province.
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