The death toll has risen to four after one more body was recovered from a river in northeast China after part of a road bridge collapsed early Monday, sending vehicles plunging into the water below.

Eighteen people had been rescued out of the Hulan River beneath the bridge in Tieli City as of 11 a.m., among whom five were injured. But one died at hospital.

Rescuers also hoisted seven trucks and one van from river, said Vice Mayor Li Qingsheng at a news briefing.

The bridge is a main route into Tieli, a city that comes under the administration of Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province.

Tieli City Public Security Department confirmed Monday it received a report at 2:34 a.m. that part of the Hulan Bridge collapsed while an overloaded truck from Harbin, the provincial capital, was traveling across it. The truck, and several other motor vehicles after it, plunged into the river below.

Two cranes were installed to help hoist fallen motor vehicles from the river. Traffic on the entire bridge was disrupted.

Nobody could say for sure the exact number of motor vehicles traveling to Tieli City on the bridge when the incident occurred.

Police are investigating the cause of the incident.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2009)