At Least 12 Dead After Railway Bridge Collapse in China’s Qinghai Province

Cable snapped during Yellow River bridge construction (Qinghai)

At least 12 workers have been killed after a railway bridge under construction in Qinghai province, China, collapsed in the early hours of Friday morning. Authorities confirmed that four others remain missing following the tragedy.

The collapse occurred around 3 a.m. during a “tensioning operation” when a steel cable snapped, according to official reports. Sixteen workers were on the bridge at the time of the incident, which happened on the Qinghai section of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway.

Multiple people are dead after a bridge collapsed on the Qinghai section of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway

Aerial images revealed a massive gap in the bridge’s curved aquamarine arch, while part of the deck — normally suspended about 55 meters above the Yellow River — was seen bent and hanging downward.

Rescue efforts are ongoing, with over 800 personnel, 91 vehicles, 27 boats, a helicopter, and five robots deployed to search for the missing workers. Emergency teams continue to comb the site in hopes of locating survivors amid the wreckage.