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Building site accident in Bavaria

June 15, 2016

A scaffold and part of an under-construction Autobahn highway bridge has collapsed, reportedly killing two and wounding more. Traffic was unaffected on the A7 highway in the north of Bavaria.

https://p.dw.com/p/1J7Cy
A7 bridge collapse
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/N. Armer

Police told Bavarian public broadcaster "Bayerische Rundfunk" that two people were killed and another six severely injured when the structures collapsed on Wednesday, near the town of Werneck. Several other people suffered minor injuries.

A roughly 40-meter (131-foot) segment of bridge collapsed, as did a scaffold holding up the construction project. It wasn't immediately clear what led to the cave-in.

Twenty workers were at the site at the time of the incident, said police spokeswoman Kathrin Thamm.

Police are still trying to find out if any workers have been buried under the collapsed structure.

Authorities are trying to establish if any cars had been traveling along the country road which passed underneath the bridge at the time of the collapse.

Traffic on the A7 highway, still using the old bridge that is to be replaced, was not affected by the incident - although temporary speed restrictions were put in force around the accident zone.

Work on the new 236-meter (774-foot) span started last year and was supposed to be completed by the end of 2017.

msh/mm (dpa)