Bridge collapses in Eastern China; workers injured ( 2004-01-15 16:33) (chinadaily.com.cn by Shen Wei)
An unknown number of
workers were injured and some may have been buried when a crossroad bridge
under construction collapsed early Thursday in Nanjing, Eastern China's Jiangsu
Province, according to the Yangtze Evening Post.
Eyewitnesses said the
accident took place at 2:00 am as workers were joining two sections of
the bridge. Thirty meters of concrete fell from a height of 14 meters,
coming down with a terrible bang.
Ambulances and rescue
teams arrived 20 minutes later. Bloodhounds were also brought to the site to
sniff out the missing workers.
"I was operating the
mixer when the whole section suddenly sank under my feet," said Wang
Xinkuan, 51, who suffered minor injuries.
"I reached for a
steel bar before I fell down to the ground. The bar sprung me up into the
air. I remember I fell on the rubble and found myself in hospital when I opened
my eyes."
Wang Xiwei, 18,
pulled five workers out of the debris, including his uncle and future
father-in-law.
"I heard a
thunder-like sound,” he recalls, “then I rushed out of my dorm to see
the bridge lying in smoke. I heard people yelling out there, calling for
help. That's really an indelible scene."
Rescue work and
investigations are ongoing.
The
exact number of casualties has not yet been
released.
