Newly built Sichuan bridge collapses in China after landslides | VIDEO

Beijing: A section of a newly opened bridge in China’s southwestern Sichuan province collapsed on Tuesday after landslides struck the surrounding mountainside, local authorities confirmed. No casualties have been reported, as per reports.

The 758-metre-long Hongqi Bridge, located near the city of Maerkang, formed part of a national highway linking central China with Tibet. According to the Maerkang city government, police had closed the bridge to all traffic on Monday afternoon after cracks appeared on nearby slopes and visible shifts were detected in the terrain.

Conditions on the mountainside deteriorated further on Tuesday, triggering landslides that caused the approach bridge and adjoining roadbed to give way. Videos posted by the bridge’s contractor, Sichuan Road & Bridge Group, show that the structure had only been completed earlier this year.

While local authorities have not reported any injuries, the incident has raised fresh concerns about construction quality and geological risks in China’s western provinces, where large-scale infrastructure projects often cut through mountainous and unstable terrain.

It also follows another high-profile accident earlier this year. According to a report by Newsweek, in August, a railway bridge under construction in Qinghai province collapsed during a cable-tensioning operation, killing at least 12 workers and leaving four others missing. That disaster prompted renewed scrutiny of safety oversight in China’s infrastructure sector.

Officials in Maerkang said an emergency response was launched as soon as slope deformation was detected on Monday. By late evening, stranded vehicles had been evacuated and access to the site restricted. Investigations into the exact cause of the Hongqi Bridge collapse are under way.

Although Chinese authorities frequently attribute such incidents to natural disasters, safety experts have continued to question the country’s regulatory standards and the pace of development in regions prone to seismic or environmental hazards.