According to official media, a portion of a bridge that was still under construction collapsed in northwest China on Friday, killing 12 people and leaving four more missing.

The spectacular moment when the central portion of the bridge’s arch collapsed and crashed into the Yellow River below was seen on camera by state broadcaster CCTV.

The fall was caused by a steel cable breakdown, according to official news agency Xinhua.

On Aug 22, tragedy struck in Qinghai—16 workers plunged to their deaths when a construction rope snapped at the Jianzha Yellow River Bridge. Another fatal example of China’s poor safety standards. pic.twitter.com/dgJl34nB91

— Spotlight on China (@spotlightoncn) August 22, 2025

According to the People’s Daily newspaper, a project manager and fifteen employees were on the building site when the accident occurred.

According to a People’s Daily article, the bridge, which is a component of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway project, is the largest-span double-track continuous steel truss arch bridge in the world.

Additionally, it is the first railway steel truss arch bridge in China to cross the Yellow River, which is the second-longest river in the nation.

State media provided images of the bridge’s half -constructedconstruction, which has a wide middle gap and is surrounded by tall scaffolds and cranes.

For further search and rescue operations, hundreds of emergency workers were sent out, according to Xinhua.

China continues to have a problem with industrial accidents, which are often caused by lax implementation of safety laws. A similar incident occurred in December when a tunnel collapsed at a major railway construction site in Shenzhen, leaving 13 workers missing, according to news agency AFP. According to the report, no survivors were reported.