The death toll from a bridge collapse in central China's Hunan
Province has risen to 36 as of midday Wednesday with at least 23
still missing.
Meanwhile, water supply has been cut off as pipes of the local
water plant were broken by the collapsed bridge, posing water
shortages for residents and tourists.
The road bridge, which was being constructed over the Tuojiang
River in Fenghuang County, collapsed at 4:40 p.m. on Monday,
blocking the Fenghuang-Daxing highway. At least 123 workers were at
the site, according to earlier calculations, but more than 1,560
rescuers are still trying to determine the exact number.
A total of 86 people have escaped or been rescued, of whom 22
were injured, including five who are still in critical condition,
said sources with the local rescue headquarters.
Construction of the 328-meter-long, 42-meter-high bridge was
scheduled for completion this month and workers have been
dismantling steel scaffolding erected during the construction
process since mid July.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao issued an order to local governments
and relevant departments "to do the utmost to carry out rescue and
treatment work and handle properly the aftermath of the
accident".
Wen also told them to "find out the cause of the collapse and
severely punish those responsible."
The construction project, involving an estimated investment of
12 million yuan (US$1.6 million), belongs to Fengda Company based
in Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in western Hunan, with the
contractor of the provincial Road and Bridge Construction (Group)
Ltd. Co. (RBC).
Local police have detained Xia Youjia, construction manager on
behalf of RBC, and project supervisor Jiang Ping.
All technical data about the bridge has been sealed up for
examination.
Frightened survivors
"We didn't see any sign of a problem before the tragedy," said a
member of staff at a scenic site close to the bridge who declined
to be named, "I heard the sounds of the crash and before I could
realize what was happening, I saw the bridge fall slowly and become
a pile of rocks."
Sitting by the Tuojiang River, 29-year-old Tian Jing, who was
working to build the bridge, is still in shock. He came to work at
the bridge from Tuanjie village in Fenghuang only a month ago.
"I was dismantling the scaffolding when some pebbles fell down,”
he recalled. Only minutes later he heard someone shouting, "The
bridge is collapsing!" Tian ran for cover but his fellow villagers
were not as lucky.
"Three of my fellow villagers were buried in the debris," he
said, "they are dead."
Mechanical diggers and sniffer dogs are being used to locate the
missing workers.
Yang Long, a villager from Jinping village whose home was just a
dozen meters from the site, said he had seen several bodies being
dug out from the debris. "Their arms and legs were broken, only
linked with skin," he said. The discoveries were accompanied by
shouts and cries from relatives of the workers.
More than 120 doctors and nurses are present at the site, while
more have been summoned for the rescue operation.
"The bulk of the collapsed bridge was huge and it is very
difficult to recover the missing buried under the rocks," said Luo
Ming, vice Party Secretary of Fenghuang County.
Fenghuang, in western Hunan and 700 kilometers away from the
provincial capital Changsha, is home to the Tujia and Miao ethnic
minorities and a famous tourist destination.
Slim chance of survival
A team of around 20 members, including State Councilor Hua
Jianmin, Minister of Communications Li Shenglin, State
Administration of Work Safety director Li Yizhong and Vice Minister
of Construction Huang Wei, arrived at the site Tuesday afternoon to
oversee rescue efforts. Governor of Hunan Province Zhou Qiang was
also at the site.
Yang Jun, a doctor in charge of emergency medical treatment at
the site, told Xinhua that "the missing had slim hopes of survival
due to possible deadly wallops by falling rocks and lack of food
and water under the debris amid the hot weather."
More than 10 medical workers disinfected the section of the
Tuojiang River near the collapse site on Tuesday to prevent any
epidemic from the human deaths.
Wang Pingwen, a worker with the Fenghuang Disease Control and
Prevention Center, said they would keep monitoring to ensure
drinking water safety of residents.
Water supply cut off
"We can only get water from wells and Tuojiang River," said an
old woman with two buckets on the shoulder. More than 10 people
queued in front of a well in a cement factory waiting for their
turns to get water.
More than 70,000 residents in the Fenghuang county seat were
facing water shortages after the pipes of the local water plant
were broken by the collapsed bridge.
The water supply cut-off also affected a local hospital where 17
wounded workers were being treated. A hospital staff told Xinhua
they were planning to drive a car and fetch water from the Tuojiang
River.
More than 10 experts and workers have been sent to sterilize at
the accident site, aiming to prevent diseases and plagues.
Wang Pingwen, an official with the Fenghuang center of disease
control, said "sterilization is necessary as the county seat lies
downstream the collapsed bridge."
Wang said the center would keep a close eye on water quality to
ensure safety of local people.
The water cut-off also affected thousands of tourists in
Fenghuang, a famous tourist destination both in China and
abroad.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2007)
