Kathmandu: Hundreds of police, soldiers and villagers searched an icy river in western Nepal yesterday for more than 100 people missing and feared dead after a steel footbridge collapsed. At least 16 people were confirmed dead, officials said.
"We have policemen and soldiers on both sides of the river searching," chief government administrator Anil Pandey told The Associated Press by telephone.
"We still don't know exactly how many people are missing so we have sent teams to nearby villages to get information from families on whether they have not heard from their relatives," he said.
Pandey said hopes of finding more survivors in the treacherous mountain river were slim.
Police chief Naresh Shakya, who was coordinating the rescue, said villagers had begun to report missing relatives to officials who were travelling around the area to collect names.
Some villages could only be reached by foot through narrow mountain trails and getting the information was expected to be slow, Shakya said.
The rescue team's efforts were being hampered by the river's fast current and the area's difficult terrain, said Yam Prasad Subedi, a government official.
Authorities believe some 500 people travelling to a village fair were crossing the Bheri River on the bridge in Chunchu village when its support cables snapped under the weight.
"The water is icy cold and the current is very swift making our work difficult. But we have our teams approach different locations," Shakya said, After the bridge collapsed crowds gathered on both sides of the river, trying to save the victims and treating the wounded. Some who had fallen in used the bridge's cables to haul themselves out of the water.
Rescuers had recovered 15 bodies by nightfall on Tuesday, and 32 people who were seriously injured were flown to hospitals. Dozens more with light injuries were treated at the scene and allowed to return home.
Five of the critically injured were being flown to Katmandu for treatment at a military hospital. Most appeared to have head injuries and broken bones. They were not allowed to talk to reporters at the airport.
Chief official Pandey refused to give a number for the missing, saying the scene was still chaotic and that nearby villages had not yet sent missing person reports.
"It is hard to say how many people are missing but the best estimate I can say is more than 100 people could be missing," said Purushottam Khatri, another police officer.
Bad infrastructure
Chunchu is located about 500 kilometers west of Katmandu in a remote part of Nepal where there are few paved roads. Most people travel by foot or bullock-pulled cart.
Much of the impoverished region's infrastructure was devastated by a decade-long communist uprising that ended last year. The country's former Maoist rebels, who controlled much of the area, often blew up bridges and roads to impede government troop movements.
Pandey said the 120-metre bridge was built this year after a peace deal was clinched with the rebels, but that it was not designed to hold the weight of so many people crossing at once.
The people had been on their way to a fair held every month after the full moon. The fair attracts thousands of people from surrounding villages.
