Eighteen people, including one who later died in hospital, have been rescued from a river in northeast China after part of a road bridge collapsed early Monday, sending vehicles plunging into the water below.

Rescuers had hoisted seven trucks and one van from the Hulan River beneath the bridge in Tieli City, said Vice Mayor Li Qingsheng at a news briefing held Monday.

Five people were injured and one died in hospital despite efforts to save him, said Li.

The bridge is a main route into Tieli, a city that comes under the administration of Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province.

Tieli City Public Security Department confirmed Monday it received a report at 2:34 a.m. that part of the Hulan Bridge collapsed while an overloaded truck from Harbin, the provincial capital, was passing across. The truck, and several other motor vehicles after it, plunged into the river below.

Two cranes were installed to help hoist fallen motor vehicles from the river. Traffic on the entire bridge was disrupted.

Nobody could say for sure the exact number of motor vehicles traveling to Tieli City on the bridge when the incident occurred.

The rescue operation is continuing.

Police are investigating the cause of the incident.

Source:Xinhua