At least 11 people have been killed and dozens more are missing after a highway bridge collapsed in northwest China, authorities said.
China’s President Xi Jinping has ordered an all-out rescue effort following the disaster in Shaanxi province, which happened around 8.40 pm local time on Friday and followed heavy storms and flooding.
Xinhua News Agency said rescue operations were still under way on Saturday in the province’s Zhashui county, with some 20 cars and 30 people still missing.
It said five vehicles that fell off the bridge have been recovered.
The agency released a photo showing a section of the bridge had snapped and fallen at an almost 90-degree angle into the rushing water below.
China’s national fire and rescue authority said it had dispatched a rescue team to the site consisting of 859 people, 90 vehicles, 20 boats and 41 drones.
Beijing embarked on a huge economic project of building a sprawling network of highways, high-speed railways and airports over the last few decades.
But a dramatic decline in economic expansion, poor-quality infrastructure and safety supervision, as well as a desire to cut corners by industries looking to save money, have led to several deadly industrial accidents.
China’s western and southwestern provinces feature mountainous landscapes and powerful rivers, making them particularly prone to flooding.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
