A tragedy unfolded south of the city of Guangzhou, in China, where
five people died
after a large container ship
crashed
early Thursday morning.
The boat accident occurred against one of the support pillars of a bridge, causing a section of the highway
to collapse and five vehicles to fall into the void
.
The official report states that three small trucks, a minibus and a motorcycle fell from the
Lixinsha
Bridge around 5:30 (local time), after the collision of the cargo ship that caused part of the structure to give way.
The minibus, the motorcycle and one of the trucks fell on the boat and the other
two vehicles fell directly into the water
.
Among the fatalities were the driver of the bus and the passenger of the scooter, as well as three occupants of the trucks who fell directly into the water, as confirmed by municipal officials.
In addition, it was reported that
there were no passengers
on the minibus .
Two people who were injured were treated at a clinic in the area and "are
out of danger
," according to reports.
Additionally, one member of the ship's crew suffered minor injuries and only treatment was required at the scene.
Local media reported that
the side of the ship hit one of the infrastructure supports and the bow then collided with another pillar
, causing a section of the bridge deck to collapse.
City authorities justified the incident to
“inadequate maneuver by the crew.”
However, there is still no official report of what happened inside the ship to cause the collision against the bridge pilings.
China.
Some of the vehicles that fell from the bridge ended up inside the cargo ship.
Photo: EFE.
The collapse of the Lixinsha bridge also cut off
water supply and access to an island
where about 8,000 people live, mostly farmers, state television CCTV said.
For the moment, temporary water pipelines and a ferry service have been established for residents.
It was also reported that at this time, the ship that carried out the bad maneuver was removed from the scene and that navigation in the sector returned to normal.
Where is the bridge located?
The bridge that collapsed crosses a waterway near the mouth of the
Pearl River, opposite Hong Kong
.
China's CCTV channel showing the incident on the destroyed bridge.
Photo: AP
The area is one of China's largest manufacturing and shipping centers and is home to two of the world's five busiest ports, according to the World Shipping Council.
Meanwhile, the authorities detained the owner of the container ship, according to the Chinese press.
They explained that the bridge reinforcement works, which included collision protection around some of the pillars, were completed in 2022.
Early reports indicated that the renovations had been delayed, but officials implied that the project spanned several bridges and that the delays did not affect the Lixinsha bridge.
With information from AP