Collapse of New Bridge in China Leaves at Least 22 Dead

At least 22 people were killed when a newly built bridge collapsed in central China yesterday, raising fresh concerns about safety standards amid a nationwide construction boom.

Just weeks before it was scheduled to open, the 328-meter (1,076ft) stone bridge over the Tuo river in central Hunan province broke apart and fell into the waters below. More than 100 workers were removing scaffolding when the accident happened. The death toll could rise significantly higher. According to the local media, 22 people were injured and 46 are still missing.

Most of the workers were local farmers, supplementing their incomes by laboring on the bridge, which was designed to improve transport links in Fenghuang - a popular tourist spot.

"I was riding a bike with my husband and we had just passed under the bridge and were about 50 meters away when it collapsed," a witness, who only gave her surname, Wu, told the Associated Press. "There was a huge amount of dust that came up and didn't clear for about 10 minutes."

Rescue efforts are continuing, with bulldozers clearing the debris so that emergency teams can search for survivors.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation. According to Xinhua news agency, the 12m yuan (£800,000) project was contracted out to the state-owned Hunan Road and Bridge Construction group. The construction manager and project supervisor have been detained for questioning.

It is the second fatal accident this year involving a bridge collapse. Nine people were killed in June when a section of a bridge in Guangdong province plunged down after a cargo vessel ran into one of its pillars.

Amid a period of breakneck economic growth, the local media have expressed concern that some contractors may be cutting corners in the rush to build bridges, roads and tower blocks, while local governments put too much emphasis on new projects while failing to invest properly in maintaining old structures.

According to The China Daily, 6,300 bridges have been categorized by the government as dangerous because of structural damage.

Xiao Rucheng, secretary general of China's Institute of Bridge and Structural Engineering, was quoted as saying that many of the country's new bridges were being built too quickly and were poorly designed. Other architects said there may be more accidents now, but the main reason is that there are more projects.