Bridge collapse kills 29 in Hunan province

Twenty-nine people were confirmed dead on Tuesday afternoon following the collapse of a road bridge in Hunan province the previous afternoon, state media reported. Five people of the 86 who were rescued or escaped from the wreckage are still in critical condition. The 328-meter-long, 140-meter-high bridge over the Tuo River in Fenghuang County was scheduled for completion in August and workers were in the process of removing steel scaffolding when the collapse occurred. Premier Wen Jiabao called on local governments to "find out the cause of the collapse and severely punish those responsible." The construction manager of Road and Bridge Construction Group, which was contracted to build the bridge, and the project supervisor have been detained by local police. Fenghuang is home to the Tujia and Miao ethnic minorities and is popular with tourists.