Rescuers are searching for the people who were riding in two of
the three vehicles that plunged into the Liaohe River in northeast
China's Liaoning
Province when a bridge collapsed Thursday.
The number of occupants of the two vehicles is not yet
available, according to the search and rescue headquarters.
Two people who survived the tragedy by swimming ashore were
confirmed to have been in the third vehicle, which fell into the
10-meter-deep river after the Tianzhuangtai Bridge in Panjin
collapsed suddenly at about 7:00 AM.
Preliminary investigation indicates that a snapped girder led to
the collapse. The bridge opened to traffic in 1977.
The Beijing News Daily reports that in 2000, the bridge
was declared unsafe and a major renovation was conducted. On May 23
this year, tests were conducted to determine the bridge's load
capacity, but conclusions had not yet been made.
Local residents said that a notice limiting vehicle weight is
posted on the west end of the bridge, but that many overweight
vehicles used it.
Construction materials and petrochemicals are produced in the
riverside towns nearest the bridge.
Liaoning Vice Governor Hu Xiaohua went to the scene to oversee
rescue operations, which started after the tide ebbed as the
incident took place near an estuary at the time the tide was
setting in.
(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing News Daily June 11,
2004)