Five people died in a collision between a cargo ship and a road bridge in China on Thursday, causing part of the structure to collapse, according to state media.
An empty container ship was traveling between Foshan and Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong (south), when it hit the bridge around 5:30 a.m. (Wednesday 9:30 p.m. GMT), the Guangzhou Maritime Affairs Bureau said.
The vessel “slammed into a pillar of the Lixinsha Bridge,” resulting in the structure's “deck fracture” and the fall of five vehicles, either into the water or onto the boat below, he said in a news release.
According to the latest report from public television CCTV, citing the Guangzhou Maritime Affairs Bureau, the bodies of three missing people were found “without signs of life,” bringing the total number of deaths to five.
An earlier report released by authorities reported two deaths and one injury among the ship's crew members, as well as three missing people.
All of the dead were on board vehicles that fell from the bridge: the driver of an empty minibus, the driver of an electric scooter and three people traveling in vans, the broadcaster said.
The accident was caused by an “inappropriate maneuver” by one or more crew members, CCTV said, citing a statement from authorities at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.
Images broadcast by CCTV earlier in the day showed rescuers in orange jumpsuits crossing a waterway in an inflatable boat towards the damaged bridge.
According to television, dozens of rescuers were sent to the scene, including some who came from the neighboring metropolis of Shenzhen as reinforcements.