Aug 22, 08:54 AM

Cable Failure Kills 12 at Sichuan–Qinghai Railway Bridge Site

A construction accident on the Jianzha Yellow River Bridge, part of the Sichuan–Qinghai Railway in north-west China, killed at least 12 workers when a steel cable snapped around 3 a.m. Friday, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The bridge’s central arch section collapsed into the Yellow River, leaving rescuers searching the fast-moving waters and surrounding scaffolding for survivors. The Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a task force to the site on the border of Jianzha County and Hualong Hui Autonomous County in Qinghai Province. Local authorities said 16 workers, including a project manager, were on the span when the cable failed. Earlier official tallies fluctuated—reporting between six and ten fatalities and up to four missing—before the death toll was revised upward to 12 by Friday evening. Hundreds of emergency personnel, boats and divers remain deployed as the search continues. The double-track steel truss arch bridge is billed as the world’s longest of its kind and the first railway span to cross the Yellow River. Its cable towers were topped out in mid-June and final closure had been scheduled for this month. Investigators are now focusing on the cause of the cable rupture as Beijing pledges a swift probe and stricter safety oversight on major infrastructure projects.