China bridge collapses killing three people

A section of a multi-million dollar bridge in China that opened in November has collapsed, killing three people and injuring other five, state media say.

Four lorries fell off the Yangmingtan Bridge in Harbin City, Heilongjiang province, when part of it collapsed, Xinhua news agency said.

Shoddy construction and over-loading have been blamed for the incident, it added.

Officials said they will investigate to see if the lorries were overloaded.

The bridge, which spans the Songhua river and is 15.42 km (9.58 miles) long, was finished nine months ago and cost 1.88 billion yuan ($286 million), Xinhua said.

A 100 m (328 ft) ramp section collapsed, causing the lorries to plummet to the ground.

Sun Qingde, an official on Harbin’s construction committee, was quoted by Xinhua as saying that the ramp “tilted to one side and crashed onto the ground”.

This is the sixth major bridge collapse in China since July 2011, the agency said.

The lorries were carrying feed and stones, officials from the Harbin municipal government was quoted by People’s Daily Online newspaper as saying at a press conference.

They added that the bridge and other city roads will be checked.