GUANZCHOU: At least five people died after a ship collided with a bridge and part of it collapsed in the southern Chinese capital of Guangzhou on Thursday.
Part of the bridge, which had to be refortified in 2022 due to safety concerns, collapsed. It is located on the Hongqili Waterway in a key industrial area.
The collision sent five vehicles, including a motorbike, off the bridge and either into the water or onto an empty cargo ship below, according to the Guangzhou Maritime Affairs Bureau.
Rescuers went to the scene of the accident.
Chinese state television showed footage showing the vessel wedged between two bridge piers and a sizable gap in the two-lane bridge above.
What happened to the bridge in Guangzhou?
The cargo ship was traveling between the cities of Foshan and Guangzhou when it hit the Lixinsha Bridge at around 5:30 a.m. local time, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The ship “came into contact with … bridge piers, causing the roadway above them to collapse,” CCTV said.
Four vehicles and an electric motorcycle were thrown from the bridge.
Two vehicles – including a bus – plunged into the water and three other vehicles ended up on the vessel, the broadcaster said.
The bus carried only its driver. It was not immediately clear whether the driver survived.
As of 10:00 a.m., “two people have been rescued, two have died, one crew member was slightly injured and three people remain missing,” a Guangzhou authority statement posted online said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, authorities said.
Meanwhile, the owner of the boat was under control, CCTV said.
Guangzhou — an industrial center in China
Guangzhou is a major industrial and manufacturing region and includes a dense network of shipping lanes.
Work to strengthen the bridge – which connects residents to the cities of Zhongshan and Shenzhen by land – began in 2022 due to security concerns, CCTV said in its report.
However, anti-collision and reinforcement work has been repeatedly delayed, it said.
The city’s Department of Transportation has marked the end of August this year for the completion of work on the latest extension, CCTV added.
