A video was recorded when a bridge collapsed in Brazil: one dead and 16 missing

At least one person died and 16 others are missing due to the collapse of a puente between the Brazilian states of Maranhao and Tocantins, in the north of the country, a police spokesperson informed the AFP news agency this Monday. The moment the bridge breaks was recorded on video. Several vehicles, including two transporting sulfuric acid, fell into the river that passes under the structure, making the search for the missing people difficult.

Four trucks, two private cars and two motorcycles were on the part of the bridge that gave way on Sunday afternoon, according to authorities.

Two of the trucks were transporting sulfuric acid, which “makes the search for the 16 difficult.” missing due to the possible “toxic” contamination of the Tocantins River under the bridge, said the spokesperson for the Federal Road Police (PRF, highway police).

(Also read – Tragedy in Bogotá: pedestrian fell from the 21 Ángeles bridge, in Suba, and died at the scene)

The search work was interrupted on Monday afternoon and firefighters were looking for a way to resume it.

He water supply in the area he was also suspended.

The PRF reported hours before two deaths due to the collapse of the bridge, but for now only the body of a 25-year-old woman has been found. A 36-year-old man was also rescued alive.

What is the name of the fallen bridge in Brazil?

The Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira Bridge, more than half a kilometer long and built in the sixties, is the main road that connects Maranhao and Tocantins.

“I am following very closely the evolution of the collapse of the Juscelino Kubitscheck de Oliveira bridge,” said the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in your X account.

The president pledged “all the help of the federal government” for “the rescue of the victims and the investigation of what happened,” and sent his “condolences” to the family members.

In addition to the fall of puenteBrazil suffered two more serious accidents with fatalities last weekend.

41 people died early Saturday morning in a bus accident in the state of Minas Gerais (southeast), which occurred after the load of a truck detached from its body and hit the vehicle.

Ten people from the same family died on Sunday when the small plane in which they were traveling crashed over a commercial area in the tourist city of Gramado, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (south).

How tall is the fallen bridge in Brazil?

The Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge, 533 meters long and linking the states of Tocantins and Maranhão, collapsed on Sunday while at least eight vehicles were passing by, including a truck with sulfuric acid that caused a spill in the Tocantins River.

Civil Defense and Firefighters continue searching for victims in the river, but without using divers, after local governments have warned of a “great risk of pollution” for the toxic spill.

The Environment and Water Resources Secretariats of Tocantins and Maranhão issued a warning to the population of 19 municipalities in the region to avoid drinking and bathing in the river waters until further notice.

The Minister of Transport, Renan Calheiros Filho, traveled to the scene of the accident and announced that, before the end of the year, a construction company will be hired for the reconstruction of the bridge.

The demolished bridge is located on the BR-226 highway, connecting the states of Maranhão and Tocantins through the municipalities of Estreito and Aguiarnópolis and is a route of regional importance for the transportation of production and goods between the two states.

(Also read: Bridge collapsed on the Facatativá-Bogotá road, at the entrance to Madrid)