One dead, five injured as bridge pier collapses in east China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-19 13:50

HANGZHOU: A construction worker was confirmed dead and five others were injured when a bridge pier in east China's Zhejiang Province collapsed early Thursday, local authorities said.

The collapsed pier was part of a railway bridge that was being built on a passenger express route linking the provincial capital Hangzhou with Shanghai, an official with the railway authority in Hangzhou said on condition of anonymity.

He said the exact location of the accident was near Honglian village in Nanyuan community of Yuhang, a suburban district of Hangzhou.

"The workers were pouring concrete for the bridge when the pier toppled shortly after midnight," he said.

A rescuer with the city's fire control bureau said the dead worker was 32-year-old Zhang Kunxiang from southwestern Guizhou Province. Of the injured workers, he said four were from Guizhou and the other one was from Sichuan Province.

The local safety watchdog has launched an investigation.

Construction of the 159-km express railway between Hangzhou and Shanghai began in February. Upon its completion by 2011, trains will travel at a maximum speed of 350 km and a one-way trip will take 38 minutes compared with the current two hours.