A road bridge in northwest China collapsed dropping 20 cars into a swollen river on Friday evening, leaving 12 dead and 31 missing.
Flash flooding in Zhashui County, caused the collapse. Media sources describe the bridge, one of a pair over a mountain river, as “snapped in half”. Images from Xinhua news agency show a section of deck fallen at a steep angle into the rushing floodwater.
Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping and the vice premier Zhang Guoqing, have encouraged rescue, recovery and restoration efforts.
Zhashui County is in Shaanxi, whose capital Xi’an is home to the terracotta army of Emperor Qinshi Huangdi.