Taiwan: 10 injured, 6 trapped in bridge collapse

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - At least 10 people were injured and six others trapped under the debris of a bridge that collapsed in Taiwan on Tuesday, local media reported.

The bridge in Yilan county ruptured and fell to the ground at around 9.30 a.m. local time (0130GMT), broadcaster Focus Taiwan quoted Taiwan’s National Fire Agency as saying.

According to the broadcaster, the bridge came down on 3 fishing boats and an oil tanker which were about to depart Nanfang'ao port. The oil tanker caught fire following the incident.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration has mobilized its personnel for rescue operations.

The driver of the oil tanker was rescued while fire was extinguished.

All the injured, except for the tanker driver, are foreign nationals who came from Philippines and Indonesia and were working on the fishing boats caught in the accident.

According to the broadcaster, the collapsed bridge was 140 meters long and 15 meters wide. Completed in 1999, it was the only single steel arch bridge in Taiwan besides being the “first bifurcated single arch bridge in Asia”, it said.