An under-construction railway bridge in Qinghai province, northwest China, collapsed early Friday during a tensioning operation, claiming at least 12 lives and leaving four more workers unaccounted for.
The incident occurred at approximately 3 a.m. when a steel cable snapped, causing the bridge’s distinctive aquamarine truss arch to collapse into the Yellow River below .
Aerial images captured by Xinhua revealed a large gap in the bridge’s arch and a bent segment of the deck hanging into the water.
Sixteen individuals—15 construction workers and one project manager—were present at the time of the failure. Rescue operations are ongoing, employing boats, a helicopter, and robots .
The collapsed structure is part of the Sichuan–Qinghai Railway and was set to become the world’s largest double-track continuous steel truss arch bridge.
It is China’s first railway truss arch spanning the Yellow River, featuring a total length of approximately 1.6 kilometers and a deck height of 55 meters .
Authorities deployed teams from the Ministry of Emergency Management, mobilizing over 800 personnel, 27 boats, a helicopter, and five search-and-rescue robots.
Hospitals nearby are operating rapid-response channels to tend to any injured, and officials have pledged to determine the collapse’s cause swiftly to prevent future accidents.