Jakarta: A busy bridge collapsed on Saturday in
central Indonesia, killing at least three people and injuring
17 others as a bus, cars and motorcycles crashed into the
river below, police and witnesses said.
Captain Syafii Nafsikin said search and rescue teams
rushed to the scene.
Survivors, swimming to shore, were screaming in panic.
The sprawling, 700-metre bridge built to resemble the
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco linked the towns of
Tenggarong and Samarinda in East Kalimantan province.
It was clogged with traffic when the accident occurred,
Syaiful, a witness, told local television station TVOne.
He saw at least one bus and close to a dozen motorcycles
plunge into the Mahakam river. Several cars were mangled.
"Everyone was screaming," said Syaiful, who like many
Indonesians uses only one name.
East Kalimantan police spokesman Colonel Antonius Wisnu
Sutirta said it wasn't immediately clear why the 10-year-old
bridge collapsed.
He said at least three people were killed and 17 others
were injured and rushed to nearby hospitals.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, November 26, 2011, 21:26