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<TD vAlign=top width=629><A name=startcontent></A><SPAN class=ds><SPAN class=lu>Last Updated: </SPAN>Tuesday, 14 August 2007, 07:51 GMT 08:51 UK</SPAN> <IMG height=2 alt="" hspace=0 src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif" width=2 border=0>
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<TD width=213><A href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6945301.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6945301.stm</A></TD>
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<DIV class=sh>Chinese bridge collapse kills 22 </DIV></DIV></TD></TR>
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<DIV class=o><A onclick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/asia_pac_enl_1187077061/html/1.stm', '1187077169', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=428,left=312,top=100'); return false;" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/asia_pac_enl_1187077061/html/1.stm"><IMG alt="" hspace=0 src="http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/asia_pac_enl_1187077061/img/laun.jpg" width=203 border=0></A></DIV>
<DIV class=pva>Bulldozers and rescuers are searching the scene for survivors</DIV><IMG height=1 alt="" hspace=0 src="http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif" width=203 vspace=2><BR>
<DIV class=pva><A onclick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/asia_pac_enl_1187077061/html/1.stm', '1187077169', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=428,left=312,top=100'); return false;" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/asia_pac_enl_1187077061/html/1.stm"><IMG height=13 alt="" hspace=0 src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/icons/open_icon.gif" width=49 align=left border=0><FONT color=#800080>Enlarge Image</FONT></A><BR clear=all></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IINC --><!-- S SF --><B>At least 22 people have been killed and up to 46 others are still missing after a bridge collapsed while under construction in central China.</B>
<P>The bridge, at a popular Chinese tourist spot in Fenghuang county in Hunan province, had been scheduled to open later this month, reports say.
<P>A total of 123 workers had been on the bridge removing scaffolding at the time, according to Xinhua news agency.
<P>China has identified more than 6,000 bridges that are damaged or dangerous. <!-- E SF -->
<P>The government in Beijing has pledged to fix or rebuild all the damaged bridges in an ambitious plan to make the country's road network safer by 2010, the China Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday.
<P><B>Investigation under way</B>
<P>Dramatic pictures from the scene showed bulldozers and rescue workers, including about 400 soldiers, searching through a huge pile of rubble.
<P>"I saw a lot of bodies lying on the road, some of them were construction workers and some were passers-by... blood was everywhere," one witness told Reuters news agency.
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<DIV class=mva><IMG height=13 alt="" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif" width=24 border=0> <B>China should learn a lesson from the collapse of the Mississippi bridge, and accelerate the inspection of unsafe bridges</B> <IMG height=13 alt="" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif" width=23 align=right border=0><BR clear=all></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV>Xiao Rucheng<BR>China's Institute of Bridge and Structural Engineering</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->
<P>"A car was crushed flat under the bridge, it was so ruined that I could not even tell the size of the car," he added.
<P>The 320m (1,049ft) bridge was being built to span the Jiantuo River, connecting the hilly Fenghuang County with neighbouring Guizhou Airport.
<P>Xinhua said the 123 workers had been busy "dismantling steel scaffolding erected during the construction process" when the collapse occurred.
<P>According to local media sources, most of those working on the 12m yuan (US$1.58m) bridge were local farmers who had been recruited for the project.
<P>The cause of the accident is under investigation. The bridge's construction manager and project supervisor have been detained for questioning, Xinhua reported.
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<DIV><IMG height=152 alt=Map hspace=0 src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44056000/gif/_44056815_china_hunan_fenghuang_0807.gif" width=203 border=0> </DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->
<P>The accident comes amid growing concern about the state of China's infrastructure in the country's rush for development.
<P>In its annual report last year, the ministry of communications identified 6,300 bridges across the country that were dangerous because of serious damage to "important structural components", the China Daily reported.
<P>Xiao Rucheng, of the Institute of Bridge and Structural Engineering, was quoted by the paper as saying that many of the newer bridges had been built in haste, and older ones were unable to cope with today's traffic flows.
<P>"China should learn a lesson from the collapse of the Mississippi bridge, and accelerate the inspection of unsafe bridges," he said, referring to the 1 August collapse of a bridge in the US that killed at least nine people.<!-- E BO --> </FONT><BR></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>