One person was killed and 22 others were injured after a bridge collapsed Thursday in east Fujian Province, according to local authorities, Xinhua reported.
The accident happened at around 8:50 a.m. when a section of the Wuyishan Gongguan Bridge collapsed in the city of Wuyishan, said a spokesman with the city's committee of the Communist Party of China.
A tourist bus, carrying 23 people, fell off the bridge, said the spokesman, and the injured were rushed to the hospital.
Designed by Fujian Provincial Traffic Planning and Designing Institute, the steel arch bridge is 301 meters long and 18 meters wide. It is a vital traffic hinge linking the Wuyishan Mountain Resort and the 101 Provincial Highway.
With a total investment of 17 million yuan (2.6 million U.S. dollars), the bridge's construction by the provincial forest engineering company started in November of 1996. It opened to traffic on Nov. 20, 1999.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.