Beijing, China: A massive railway bridge under construction as part of the Sichuan-Qinghai railway project collapsed early Friday morning, killing 12 workers and leaving four others missing, Chinese authorities reported.
The bridge, spanning the Yellow River (Huang He), saw its main arch section suddenly give way and fall into the river. Xinhua, China’s state news agency, cited snapped steel cables as the primary cause of the collapse. According to *People’s Daily*, 16 workers were present at the site at the time of the accident.
#BREAKING: Four people were killed and 12 remain missing after a construction cable snapped on a bridge along the Sichuan–Qinghai Railway in China. pic.twitter.com/JLjWo8ZlVa
— Veritas Daily (@VeritasDaily) August 22, 2025
The collapsed structure was the world’s largest double-track steel truss arch railway bridge and was scheduled for completion in August 2025. It is also the first railway steel truss arch bridge over the Yellow River, China’s second-largest river.
Hundreds of rescue personnel rushed to the site immediately to carry out relief operations. Search efforts are ongoing for the four missing workers. China’s Ministry of Emergency Management has dispatched a team to investigate the cause and ensure measures are taken to prevent similar accidents in the future.
Safety standards in China’s construction industry have often been criticized as inadequate, with previous incidents resulting in significant loss of life.