Video surveillance cameras show there were four vehicles and nine people on a bridge spanning the Xijiang River which partially collapsed after it was hit by a boat on Friday.

 

The video shows the four automobiles carrying seven passengers, were registered in Foshan, Guangzhou, Jiangmen and Shenzhen. It also shows there were two workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse, said Deng Genwei, vice mayor of Foshan city, Guangdong Province.

 

Divers and 10 boats are searching the water for cars or trucks and people that may have fallen into the water but none has yet been recovered, said Deng.

 

A boat laden with sand sailed out of the main channel and hit a pier of the bridge connecting Jiujiang Township in Nanhai district of Foshan to neighboring Heshan city at about 5:10 am on Friday, causing 200 meters of the 1,600-meter-long bridge to collapse. Sections of the collapsed bridge fell onto the bow of the boat, partially submerging it. All 10 crew members were rescued, and two were treated in hospital for bruises and released.

 

The boat has been seized by local police and all of its crew are under police surveillance.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2007)