TAIPEI - A bridge collapsed into a harbor in northeastern Taiwan on Tuesday, crushing several fishing boats with some crew feared trapped, authorities said, although the number of casualties was not immediately clear.
Several injured people were taken to hospital, while divers plunged into the waters in a search for those feared trapped in a couple of fishing boats, 2 government officials from the port township of Suao told Reuters.
"The bridge collapsed at around 9:30 a.m. while an oil tanker vehicle was on it, setting the vehicle on fire," said Shih I-chun, the secretary of the town's mayor. "We feared that some fishermen might be trapped in the boats."
Authorities have pressed soldiers into the rescue effort and set up an emergency center to run the operation.
The collapse of the bridge, which carries traffic over the busy fishing port, damaged 3 fishing boats and 2 vehicles, including the tanker, the officials said, though the reason for the collapse in clear weather was not immediately clear.
Late on Monday, Typhoon Mitag, packing maximum winds of 162 kph, swept past northeastern Taiwan, injuring 12 people and cutting power to more than 66,000 homes, with more than 150 flights cancelled.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Two South Koreans died and several others, including foreign athletes participating in the World Aquatics Championships, were injured when an upper floor of a nightclub collapsed in the southern city of Gwangju early on Saturday, a fire department official said.
At least 10 people were injured when the structure collapsed on top of revellers around 2 a.m. local time (1700 GMT Friday), pinning people underneath, the Gwangju Fire Department official said. The official did not give an exact number of how many athletes were among those injured.
Gwangju, about 330 kilometers south of the capital Seoul, has been hosting the championships, which feature swimming, water polo and diving, over the past fortnight. The meet finishes on July 28.
Authorities said eight foreign athletes were injured - three Americans, two New Zealanders, one Dutch, one Italian and one Brazilian, and that there was not a diving athlete, according to Seoul's Yonhap news agency.
But the head of Gwangju western fire station, Kim Young-don, confirmed that those hurt included one female American diving athlete and one male American water polo player.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Members of a rescue team search for victims on Monday after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA collapsed, in Brumadinho, Brazil. At least 60 people were killed with more than 300 still missing after the dam collapsed last Friday.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW DELHI - Ten people have died after a car crashed into a dilapidated building in central India and brought down the near century-old structure, burying them beneath rubble, police said Sunday.
The freak accident in Indore on Saturday evening is the latest building disaster in a country infamous for poor construction and safety standards.
The driver lost control of his vehicle and struck a pillar holding up the near 100-year-old structure, said police deputy inspector general Harinarayanchari Mishra.
"The impact was such that the entire building collapsed," he told AFP.
"Rescue workers pulled out 12 people from the rubble, 10 of them were already dead. The other 2 are being treated in hospital."
Images from the scene showed battered and bloodied corpses being pulled from twisted piles of brick and concrete. The rubble was being cleared with cranes and industrial equipment.
Building disasters are common in Indian cities where millions are forced to live in cramped, run-down properties due to spiraling real estate prices and a lack of proper housing.
Activists say owners often cut corners on construction to save costs with little regard to safety.
Some 30 people perished in September last year when a 117-year-old apartment building collapsed in India's financial hub of Mumbai.
And in 2013, 60 people were killed when a residential block came crashing down in one of the country's worst housing disasters.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
