Three people were killed and five injured yesterday when an approach ramp on the longest bridge in northern China collapsed after only nine months in operation.
Four trucks loaded with construction materials were on the ramp when the 100-metre section of the Yangmingtan Bridge in Harbin , Heilongjiang province, broke off and landed on a footpath at about 5am.
The city government said two of the injured were in critical condition in hospital.
The 15.4 kilometre suspension bridge, which crosses Yangmingtan Island in the Songhua River, is the nation's longest bridge north of the Yangtze River. Construction began at the end of 2009 and was finished in just 18 months, China News Service reported yesterday. It opened to traffic in November.
Huang Yi , State Administration of Work Safety chief engineer, told a press conference in Beijing yesterday that he had suspicions about the quality of construction.
"I think [if the bridge] snapped after only about a year in operation, there must be some problems," he said. "But the problems can only be confirmed after an investigation. Once there are conclusions, we will ask the local investigative team to publish the results promptly."