The collapse of a bridge in northern Brazil six days ago left at least ten dead and seven missing, according to a new report released Friday. The cause of the accident is not yet known.
The Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira bridge, the main connection between the states of Maranhao (north-east) and Tocantins (north), collapsed on Sunday. Rescuers located a new body in the adjacent Tocantins River and another six kilometers from the scene, the Brazilian navy said.
The latest report from the authorities dated Thursday reported eight dead and nine missing. Search operations are still underway, mobilizing more than 70 rescuers and a hyperbaric chamber allowing depths of up to 30 meters to be explored, the navy explained.
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Chemicals
Three heavy goods vehicles which “transported 22,000 liters of pesticides and 76 tonnes of sulfuric acid, a corrosive chemical”, fell into the river at the time of the collapse, according to the national water agency (ANA). A spokesperson for the firefighters, however, assured AFP that the tanks of these trucks were “intact”.
The bridge was built in the 1960s and was around 500 meters long.
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