A sickening plunge: Ferry hits Brazil bridge, sending roadway, cars into river

A ferry boat collided with a bridge pillar causing part of the bridge to collapse in the Moju River, state of Para, Brazil. Photos / AP

A section of the bridge collapsed.

A ferryboat collided with a bridge pillar in Brazil's Amazon region today, causing the span's central roadway to plunge into the Moju River with two cars and cutting a highway to one of the country's busiest ports.

Para state Governor Helder Barbalho told reporters that witnesses reported seeing the two small cars fall into the water during the accident on a highway leading to the port city of Belem, the state capital.

It was unknown how many people were in the cars, and fire department scuba divers were searching the river.

The state government said the five crew members on the ferry survived, but it had no information about any victims as about 200m of the 860m bridge collapsed.

"This is a sad day with this regrettable episode," Barbalho said in an initial statement. "Right now our priority is to speed up the search for the victims and give total support to their families."

Local media reported that a January inspection of the bridge found corrosion problems on the pillars. At the time, the Government didn't think the problem was serious enough to close the span, but did request funds for emergency measures, the reports said.

The structure is part of a complex of bridges that span a labyrinth of rivers at the mouth of the Amazon River basin to provide a road connection between many rural cities and the state capital.

it is now the bridge to nowhere over the Moju River.

The state government said it would install ramps and have barges ferry cars from one end of the broken bridge to the other while the span is rebuilt. The governor estimated repairs and new safety measures would cost US$25 million and take about year.

Barbalho also said officials would install buffers and warning signs on the pillars of other bridges in the complex.

In 2014, a boat collided with a pillar of another bridge in the same bridge complex, causing about 50m of the span to collapse.

Civil police were investigating today's accident and looking into whether the ferry was officially registered.

- AP