Vehicles, pedestrians fall into river over bridge collapse

Photo taken on July 9, 2013 shows the collapsed old Qinglian Bridge (R) across the Tongkou River in Jiangyou City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The neighboring bridge on the left is the Qinglian Bridge. An unknown number of vehicles and pedestrians fell into the river after the bridge collapsed on the morning of July 9. The water level of the river rose significantly over the past two days due to continuous rainfalls in the region. (Xinhua)

An unknown number of vehicles and pedestrians fell into a river in southwest China's Sichuan Province after a bridge collapsed on Tuesday morning, local authorities confirmed.

The bridge over the Tongkou River in Jiangyou, Sichuan, collapsed at around 11 a.m..

So far, two people have been rescued by local residents, while the exact number of people who had fallen into the river and the casualties are not immediately known.

Water level in the river has risen significantly over the past two days thanks to continuous rainfalls in the region.

Search and rescue work is under way.