PORTO ALEGRE (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), Feb 21 (NNN-XINHUA) — At least three people are missing and 20 were injured when a suspension bridge collapsed over the Mampituba River in south Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state in the predawn hours of Monday, local authorities said.
The simple hanging bridge connecting the state’s city of Torres with Passo de Torres (in Santa Catarina) gave way due to excess weight from revelers returning from Carnival celebrations.
“Thirty people were rescued and they are still looking for three missing persons,” Torres Tourism Secretary Matheus Junges told local media.
A search and rescue operation is underway for the missing, he said.
Local radio station Radio Gaucha in the city of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul’s capital, cited the Fire Department as saying as many as 100 people were on the bridge at the time of the accident, 80 more than the authorized capacity. — NNN-XINHUA
