(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-14 20:34

Yang Long, a villager from Jinping village whose home was just a dozen meters from the site, said he had seen several bodies being dug out from the debris. "Their arms and legs were broken, only linked with skin," he said. The discoveries were accompanied by shouts and cries from relatives of the workers.

More than 120 doctors and nurses are present at the site, while more have been summoned for the rescue operation.

"The bulk of the collapsed bridge was huge and it is very difficult to recover the missing buried under the rocks," said Luo Ming, vice Party Secretary of the Fenghuang County.

Construction of the 328-meter-long, 42-meter-high bridge was scheduled for completion this month and workers have been dismantling steel scaffolding erected during the construction process since mid July.

The project, involving an estimated investment of 12 million yuan (US$1.6 million), belongs to Fengda company based in Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in western Hunan, with the contractor of the provincial Road and Bridge Construction (Group) Ltd. Co. (RBC)

Local police have detained Xia Youjia, construction manager on behalf of RBC, and project supervisor Jiang Ping.

All technical data about the bridge has been sealed up for examination.

Fenghuang, in western Hunan and 700 kilometers away from the capital Changsha, is home to the Tujia and Miao ethnic minorities and a famous tourist destination.

A team of around 20 members, including Minister of Communications Li Shenglin, State Administration of Work Safety director Li Yizhong and Vice Minister of Construction Huang Wei, arrived at the site Tuesday afternoon to oversee rescue efforts and investigate the accident, following provincial officials in charge of construction, traffic and work safety supervision headed by the provincial governor Zhou Qiang.

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