Indonesia bridge collapse kills 4

Search-and-rescue teams have been looking for survivors today after a busy bridge collapsed in central Indonesia, killing at least four people and leaving scores missing as a bus, cars and motorcycles crashed into the river below.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the country's disaster management agency, said the sprawling concrete bridge on the remote island of Borneo was being repaired when the accident occurred yesterday.

Workers were tightening screws and bolts when a steel support cable snapped and the bridge, which was less than 10 years old, came smashing down.

Four bodies were pulled from the water, including a six-month-old baby, and 19 people were rushed to the hospital with injuries, said police Capt. Syafii Nafsikin. Scores of people, including six of the repair workers, were missing.

The 700-meter structure, built to resemble the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, linked the towns of Tenggarong and Samarinda in East Kalimantan province. It was clogged with traffic when the accident occurred, a witness told local television station TVOne.
 

Source: BNA