At Least 9 Workers Killed After Colombian Bridge Collapsed

At Least 9 Workers Killed After Colombian Bridge Collapsed
View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. (REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga)
Reuters
1/16/2018
Updated:
1/16/2018
BOGOTA—At least 9 construction workers were killed and multiple injured when a partially-constructed bridge collapsed in central Colombia on Monday, an official from the disaster response agency said.

The bridge, located in Chirajara on the border of Cundinamarca and Meta provinces, was to be part of the highway that connects the capital Bogota and the city of Villavicencio, and was not yet in public use.

View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. (REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga)
View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. (REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga)
View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. (REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga)
View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. (REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga)

The cause of the collapse, which sent pieces of the bridge down into a canyon below, is under investigation, Reinaldo Romero, head of disaster response for Meta province, told Reuters.

“Up to now there are nine dead and five injured,” Romero said. “We are doing a check to rule out other victims.”

Transportation Minister German Cardona flew over the site of the collapse later on Monday and visited rescue staff on the ground with Dimitri Zaninovich, the head of the national infrastructure agency.

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