A bridge in Qinghai Province, China, suffered a construction rope snap incident on the 22nd, resulting in 7 deaths and 9 missing persons.
According to reports from People’s Daily and Ganqing Railway Company, the Jianzhax Yellow River Grand Bridge—part of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway currently under construction within Qinghai Province—suffered a "rope snapping" accident at around 3:10am.
The bridge is being constructed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. and is located within Hualong County, Haidong City, Qinghai Province.
The report stated that, at the time of the incident, the project was carrying out steel cable tensioning work. Suddenly, a steel cable snapped, causing the steel arch to fall. The tensioning platform atop the cable tower simultaneously overturned, causing 16 workers—15 construction workers and 1 project site supervisor—to fall.
As of 9am on the 22nd, the accident had resulted in 7 fatalities, with 9 people still missing. Rescue efforts are underway.
Public information shows that the Jianzhax Yellow River Grand Bridge—scene of this major construction accident on the Xicheng Railway—is located at the boundary between Jianzha County in Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Hualong Hui Autonomous County in Haidong City, Qinghai Province. It is the world’s largest double-track railway continuous steel truss arch bridge, and the first railway steel truss arch bridge to span the Yellow River in China.
On June 14, the cable tower of the Jianzhax Yellow River Grand Bridge was completed. The bridge was originally scheduled to be joined up in August, and is a key project on the Sichuan-Qinghai railway. It is intended to boost economic development and tourism resource exploitation along the railway’s route, and to facilitate connectivity between the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "Yangtze River Economic Belt."