Container ship hits bridge in south China, killing 5

BEIJING (AP) — Five people died after a large container ship hit support pillars for a bridge over a river in southern China early on Thursday, sending a section of the roadway and five vehicles crashing down.

Three small trucks, a bus and a scooter fell off the bridge south of the city of Guangzhou, authorities said. The bus, the scooter and one of the trucks landed inside the empty ship, and the other two trucks fell into the water.

One side of the ship hit a bridge support and then the bow hit another pillar, causing a section of the bridge deck to collapse, authorities said, blaming it on “improper operation by the crew.”

The collapse of the Lixinsha Bridge also cut off water and access to an island that is home to about 8,000 people, mostly farmers, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The dead included the driver of the bus, that of the scooter and three people in the trucks that went into the river, city officials said at a late afternoon news conference. There were no passengers on the bus.

AP