Landslide Collapses Hongqi Bridge in China's Sichuan Province Months After Opening

On Nov. 11, a recently completed section of the Hongqi Bridge in Maerkang (Barkam), Sichuan province, partially collapsed after landslides struck the mountainside above the structure.

“A newly constructed bridge in China’s southwestern Sichuan province has partially collapsed, sending up a massive plume of dust and debris”

ABP Live English

Video of concrete and structural elements tumbling circulated widely online and produced a large dust plume.

ABP Live English

Authorities had closed the bridge a day earlier after cracks and slope movement were detected, and officials reported no casualties.

The span, reported as roughly 758 metres in many accounts, formed part of a national highway linking central China with Tibet.

The contractor said the bridge had been finished earlier this year.

Reports place the collapse at the approach span and adjoining roadbed, where slope failure undermined foundations.

Several outlets say inspection crews had noticed cracks and terrain shifts, and that police closed the route the day before.

Al Jazeera

Emergency teams evacuated stranded vehicles and cordoned off the area, while engineers inspected remaining sections to prevent further damage.

Officials and contractors described the cause as landslides and geological instability, and a technical investigation has been launched to determine whether design or construction issues also played a role.

Authorities say a prior closure likely prevented fatalities.

“Topic:Disasters, Accidents and Emergency Incidents Video has emerged on social media of a newly opened bridge partially collapsing in China's south-west along a national highway”

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Police halted traffic after engineers reported cracks and slope movement, then evacuated stranded vehicles and set up warnings and cordons.

Rescue and safety teams monitored ongoing geologic risks.

Multiple outlets repeated official statements that no casualties were reported and described precautionary evacuations and road suspensions.

Footage released by state media and videos circulating on social platforms helped reporters verify the collapse and the emergency response timeline.

Beyond the immediate incident, several outlets place the collapse in a wider context of recent infrastructure failures and concerns about rapidly built projects in China's western, mountainous regions.

Reporters and commentators cite earlier fatal collapses and weather-related infrastructure stress as background that has heightened scrutiny of construction quality and safety oversight.

CNA

Some coverage explicitly links the Hongqi failure to those broader resilience questions and past tragedies.

Coverage differences also reflect varying editorial practices: some outlets reproduce or rely on tabloid or partner reporting (News.au reproduces New York Post material), some provide sparse or partial posts (The Independent), and at least one listed source here supplied no usable article text in these snippets (Al Jazeera).

“Hongqi Bridge at Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station in Sichuan collapses into river, sending up massive dust cloud on Nov”

Fox News

Technical or specialist sites (parametric-architecture) add engineering-oriented details, such as the main span remaining intact or the bridge's height above the gorge, that general news reports often omit.

Fox News

These variations affect what readers learn about proximate causes, ancillary infrastructure and investigative scope.