Lochem, Netherlands: At least two people died and two others were injured on Wednesday when part of a bridge under construction collapsed on workers in the Netherlands, Dutch officials said.
Part of the bridge was being lifted into place at Lochem in the east of the country when the cables holding it in place snapped and the bridge collapsed to the ground.
An AFP reporter at the scene said a mobile command unit had been set up with police, engineers, fire brigade and drones circling overhead.
The authorities pulled the second body from the accident site several hours later.
One victim was from Belgium and the other from Poland, the Dutch labor inspectorate told public broadcaster NOS late Wednesday. The names and ages of the victims were not released.
Local mayor Sebastiaan van ‘t Erve said the whole community was shocked by the accident.
“We’ve been planning this road for 20 years. We’ve been developing the construction for five years. And then in one day the whole thing collapses, killing two people and injuring two others,” he told AFP.
The mayor said there is currently no indication of what caused the accident and that the investigation is ongoing.
“My first priority is to stand by the people who have been affected by this terrible accident,” he said.
A reporter from local newspaper De Stentor said at the scene that workers were lifting the arches at the time of the accident.
“Suddenly there was a huge bang,” the reporter said.
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“The whole arch started swaying. Then the whole thing fell. We saw two construction workers fall.”
Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed his condolences to the relatives of the dead after what he called “tragic news of a serious accident”.
Dozens of people watched the moment the bridge was placed in place at that time – they are undergoing psychological treatment.
Max Schurink, project manager for the province of Gelderland, where the construction site is located, said he was “hugely shocked” when he saw the accident with his own eyes.
“I have serious concerns about the colleagues who are on the ground,” said Schurink De Stentor.
Schurink said conditions around the site were fine.
But he added: “Let’s not speculate about the cause.
“The staff affected by this accident are now concerned. It is quite dramatic.”
The regional security office said two injured people were taken to hospital but were expected to survive.
“What happened was that they were trying to lift the bridge. You can see the cables. The bridge started to twist. That part of the bridge fell to the ground,” Andre Meilink of the security office told NOS.
In the Netherlands, which has strict building regulations and centuries of experience building canals, dams and bridges, such industrial accidents are rare.
In 2015, two large cranes working on a bridge toppled onto nearby houses and shops in the western town of Alphen aan den Rijn, but miraculously no one was injured.
Cranes, working from boats, were renovating the Queen Juliana Bridge, a 1950s canal bridge when the first machine collapsed.
