The 120-meter Fangu Bridge, which connects two townships in Pingjiang county, collapsed after one of its piers was hit by a sand dredge flushed downstream by the floods, an official with the county's transport department said.
At least eight people fell into the Changjiang River after the collapse, witnesses said. Five people have been saved, Xinhua quoted local officials as saying.
Transportation authorities said the bridge has been shut down since yesterday because of the heavy rains which battered the county, toppling 3,500 homes and forcing more than 28,880 people to evacuate.
