Pakistan bridge collapse leaves 35 dead

At least 35 people were killed when a crowded bridge collapsed after heavy rains hit north-western Pakistan today, an official said.

Witnesses said about 200 people and some vehicles were on the 30ft-high bridge in the city of Mardan when it suddenly collapsed.

Rescuers have pulled 35 bodies from the rubble and the floodwater.

A rescue official said the bridge was old and overcrowded, but believed it collapsed because of the flooding.

“We fear that many others are still trapped under the debris,” district mayor Himayatullah Mayar said.

He adding that authorities asked the army for help.

Rescue efforts in Mardan, about 60 miles north-west of the capital Islamabad, were hampered by the darkness as night fell.

Ehtisham Khan, a rescue woker at the scene, said three vehicles were buried under the bridge with bodies inside. The army and local authorities were arranging floodlights to help the rescuers.

Umair Ali, 23, a college student, estimated there were between 150 and 200 people on the bridge when it collapsed.

“I saw some of them swimming and coming out of the water,” he said, adding that dozens more could be under the debris.

Abid Ali, the city police chief, said they needed heavy machinery and tools to cut through steel and concrete to reach bodies.

Another police official Mohammed Iftikhar said others may have drowned in the swollen stream.

Dozens of people have died across Pakistan in recent weeks due to monsoon rains, landslides and flash floods.

The rains have forced authorities to open the overflow to a major dam near Islamabad for the first time in five years.