5 dead after ship hits Pearl River bridge in Chinese city of Guangzhou
- Ship’s captain detained over accident, which caused five vehicles to fall off the structure on Thursday morning
- The bodies of three victims were recovered from the river following the accident in the city’s Nansha district
Five people died after a cargo ship rammed into a bridge over the Pearl River in Guangzhou, southern China on Thursday morning.
Three others were also injured, two of whom were being treated in hospital while a third, one of the ship’s crew, suffered minor injuries.
Five vehicles – a bus, a motorcycle and three vans – fell off the Lixinsha bridge in the city’s Nansha district when the empty ship struck two of the bridge’s pillars, fracturing the structure.
Three of the vehicles landed on the ship while the other two plunged into the river. The vehicles and three bodies were recovered from the river on Thursday afternoon, the city authorities said.
The Guangzhou bus company said that its vehicle had been empty at the time apart from the driver.
The authorities blamed the ship’s crew for the accident, saying it had been caused by an “operational mishandling”.