Three people were killed and five injured in a bridge collapse near China’s northeastern city of Harbin. The Yangmingtan Bridge has been in use for less than a year and cost 1.88 billion yuan (US$294 million) to build.
According to the Chinese media reports, at 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 24 the entire section of the 130-meter (330 foot) long approach ramp near Wangjiadian, Qunlixin District, Harbin dropped 100 feet to the ground.
Yang Wen, a taxi driver who was driving his taxi on the road next to the bridge that morning, said he heard a loud noise and saw the northbound approach span topple over onto the sidewalk. Three large trucks and one small one fell down with it. The ground where the bridge fell on was smashed in, Yang said.
Yangmingtan Bridge is currently the longest river-crossing bridge north of the Yangtze River. It is 7.1 kilometers (4.5 miles) long and spans the Songhua River west of Harbin. It is Harbin’s first suspension bridge. Construction of the bridge began on Dec. 5, 2009 and opened to traffic on Nov. 6, 2011.
A Harbin resident, who did not identify himself, told The Epoch Times that this was big news for the locals. “It was fortunate that it happened early in the morning. If it had happened a few hours later, during rush hour, there would have been so many people killed. It’s terrifying,” he said.
The Yangmingtan Bridge was the sixth major bridge collapse in China during the last 13 months, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. The accident triggered a storm on China’s Internet, many people blaming corrupt officials for shoddy work.
One blogger wrote, “The bridge built by the Chinese Communist Party was collapsed in less than a year, whereas the Qiantang River Bridge built by the Kuomintang Nationalist Party 70 years ago is still in good shape!”
Another netizen said: “This is unheard of! It is outrageous! How did they build such a bridge? Is there any supervision? How did it pass inspection? It broke in less than a year! Who is responsible?” LINK
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