British-era bridge collapses in MP's Narmadapuram; no report of injuries

The incident took place when a 138-wheel trailer truck was crossing the narrow bridge, leading to the vehicle falling on the dry riverbed

A British-era bridge on the dry Sukthwa river in Madhya Pradesh's Narmadapuram collapsed while a trailer truck was crossing on Sunday, leading to traffic disruption on the Bhopal-Nagpur national highway, a senior police official said.

The incident took place when a 138-wheel trailer truck was crossing the narrow bridge, leading to the vehicle falling on the dry riverbed, Additional Superintendent of Police Awadhesh Pratap Singh told PTI over the phone, adding that there was no report of injuries.

"The driver complained of some minor injury to the spleen, but he left the spot soon after. Five more people who fell along with the vehicle are fine. The multi-axle vehicle was bringing transformers from Hyderabad to Itarsi in Narmadapuram," Mr. Singh said.

Traffic was being diverted via Harda to Betul following the accident at Sukthwa, some 70 kilometres from the district headquarters, he said.

An official said the driver has been traced to a health centre in the nearby Betul district and more information on what led to the accident will be had after he is spoken to.

Sources said some 5,000 vehicles use the 25-foot-high bridge daily.