Catastrophic Bridge Collapse in China Results in Fatalities

Tragedy struck on Friday in northwestern China as an under-construction bridge suddenly gave way, resulting in six fatalities and leaving ten individuals unaccounted for, as reported by national media outlets.

Surveillance footage revealed the dramatic moment when the central arch of the bridge crumbled and plummeted into the Yellow River's depths.

Investigations pinpoint the disaster to a malfunction of a steel cable, according to the state news provider, Xinhua.

At the time of the accident, there were 15 construction workers and a manager present on the site, as noted by the People's Daily.

Initial reports from the newspaper stated seven fatalities, though later updates revised the figure to six.

This bridge is part of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway project, celebrated as the largest of its kind with two tracks spanning a continuous steel truss arch design.

This structure marks a first for China, being the maiden railway steel truss arch bridge across the Yellow River, recognized as the country's second-largest river.

Media broadcasts displayed the incomplete bridge, now devoid of its middle portion, flanked by towering scaffolds and numerous cranes.

The response was swift, with hundreds of rescue and emergency personnel engaged in a search operation, as detailed by Xinhua.

China frequently faces industrial mishaps, attributed to often indistinct regulations and insufficient safety protocols.

A similar incident occurred last December, when 13 workers vanished following a collapse at a railway construction site in Shenzhen; no survivors were reported then.