The cable was broken at the site of a bridge under construction on the Qinghai floor of the Sichuan Qing Railway around 3am on Friday. According to a preliminary investigation, 16 workers were on the scene at the time of the accident, Xinhua reported.
Following the report of the accident, the Ministry of Emergency Management promptly dispatched a working group to the site to guide rescue operations, examine the situation of those involved in the accident, mobilize specialized rescue groups, search for and urge any effort to rescue people who fell into the water.
The cause of the accident should be identified as soon as possible, and efforts should be made to decisively prevent similar accidents, the ministry said.
The bridge, built on the Yellow River, is a steel truss arch structure. Its main span was expected to close by the end of this month.
More than 380 rescuers from multiple departments participated in the search and rescue operations, including emergency management, fire service, transportation, public safety, health and armed police. A total of 66 vehicles and 23 boats are deployed.
MA/PR