Two dead, one missing after bridge collapse in SW China

KUNMING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two villagers were killed and one is missing after part of a bridge collapsed in Qujing City in southwest China's Yunnan Province, a local official said on Friday.

A 10-meter section in the middle of the 150-meter Sunjiamachang bridge collapsed around 3:10 p.m. Wednesday when a cattle-drawn cart loaded with coal was running over it, said Wang Can, a Qujing Water Resource Bureau official.

A total of four villagers fell into the Dumu reservoir under the bridge together with the cart.

The body of the cart's owner Luo Laicun was retrieved on Thursday afternoon. His six-year-old grandson who was with him at the time of the accident, was found dead by a passing boat shortly after the accident.

One villager was rescued and is being treated in hospital. A search for the last missing villager continues.

The bridge was built in the 1980s and has been poorly maintained, according to villagers.