Bridge collapse kills two, injures seven in east China

JINAN, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A ramshackle bridge to be demolished suddenly collapsed on Saturday in east China's Shandong Province, killing two workers and injuring seven others, the local authority said.

The nine workers, from the Zibo Lishen Blasting Co. Ltd., were removing the reinforcing steel bars in the concrete guardrail on the Duguanzhuang Bridge in Laicheng District, Laiwu City when the collapse happened unexpectedly at 8:10 a.m., a work safety administration spokesman said.

The provincial government had listed the bridge, which links two rural townships of Fangxia and Niuquan, as "dangerous" and ordered its demolishing, the spokesman said.

The Lishen company was hired for the blasting operation by the Laiwu-based Taidong Highway Engineering Co., which had won the bid for the demolishing project, he said.

The spokesman did not provide further details and an investigation into the accident has been underway.