12 Dead, 4 Missing After Under-Construction Bridge Collapses in Northwest China

A steel cable failure reportedly caused a section of a railway bridge to plunge into the Yellow River, sparking a massive search and rescue operation and raising renewed concerns about industrial safety regulations.

August 22, 2025: A piece of a railway bridge in northwest China crashed down on Friday, killing at least 12 people and leaving four more missing. After the bridge fell over the Yellow River, hundreds of rescue workers are now looking for and saving people.

According to state media, the accident happened early Friday morning. The national broadcaster CCTV filmed the dramatic moment when the center arch section of the bridge fell apart and crashed into the sea below. The provincial emergency management authority’s first examination at the incident showed that a steel cable broke as it was being tightened, which caused the building to fall.

There were 16 persons working on the bridge when the tragedy happened, one of whom was the project manager. The bridge is a key part of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway project. People argue that the structure is a significant engineering success because it is the first railway bridge of its kind to cross the Yellow River and the world’s largest-span double-track continuous steel truss arch bridge.

As of Friday night, a big rescue effort was underway on. More than 800 people, dozens of cars, boats, and even robots were sent out to look for the four people who were missing and bring them back to safety. Authorities have asked for a fast investigation to find out what caused the accident and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

This is the most recent in a series of similar accidents that have occured in Chinese factories. A lot of people say they are to blame for not following safety guidelines. Last December, a tunnel collapse at a railway construction site in Shenzhen led 13 workers to go missing. No one has been discovered since then.