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1st LD Writethru: Moderate earthquake jolts Athens  • Situation in Syria not safe for refugees to return: UN official  • Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan dies in London  • Urgent: Bridge collapse kills 10 in central Colombia  • Air Malta comes to agreement pilots' union  • Spotlight: Morocco sees smooth start of floating currency  • UN chief condemns suicide bombings in Baghdad  • Swiss scientists to create smart power-consuming building  • Over 1,000 Danish youths charged for sharing sex videos on social network  • Iran to host regional rally racing for Muslim women  
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1st LD: Bridge collapse kills 10 in central Colombia

Xinhua,January 16, 2018 Adjust font size:

BOGOTA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed on Monday when a bridge under construction in central Colombia collapsed.

Another two people were missing and four others were injured when the structure fell along a tract of a highway that links the capital Bogota with the nearby city of Villavicencio, officials said.

Jorge Diaz, director of Civil Defense for the department of Meta, said the victims were construction workers who fell from a height of approximately 280 meters. Some 20 workers were on the bridge at the time of the accident.

"Ten people are dead. Nine died at the site of the accident and one was taken to a hospital, where he died," Diaz told local media.

Video footage posted to the Caracol News website showed what appeared to be half of the bridge still standing, while the other half had plummeted into the gully below.

The bridge was just 20 meters away from completion, a Caracol News anchor said. Enditem