Dozens rescued stranded over broken bridge

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BEIJING: Nearly 100 local residents and tourists stranded over a broken bridge on Sichuan Provincial Highway 303 in southwest China, were rescued by firemen on Monday.

The bridge broke into two parts, with a gap of five meters in between. However, landslides and mudslides, with torrential water under the bridge, prevented the trapped people from moving any further.

Firefighters from the Yingxiu Fire Brigade, equipped with ropes, life vests and other outfits, rushed to the site and rescued more than 50 people.

Firefighters used ropes to transfer stranded people to safe place. However, drawbacks of the hand pulling rescue method stood out gradually, the sliding wheel had run hot for the severe friction and firefighters looked exhausted.

Besides, the water level continued to rise. The ever exposed rock has been covered by billows two to three meters high, which added more difficulty to rescue operation.

"I am afraid that the bridge can withstand no longer. So we must speed up the operation to rescue them as soon as possible," said Feng Shenghuan, staff officer of Yingxiu Fire Station of Wenchuan Brigade.

A shovel with an arm length of 20 meters was sent to the site, the dipper of which can contain two persons. The firefighters tried to convey the stranded villagers to the opposite bank of the river by using the shovel.

After a test, two brave stranded villagers sat into the digger who were the first two conveyed to the safe place by the shovel.

Rescued villagers said that they believed in the shovel from their own sand pit.

Finally, more than 40 people left on the broken bridge were all transferred safely to the opposite bank by the shovel. However, according to the rescued people, the chink of the broken highway expanded to the Wolong City, and there were another 100 people stranded along the highway. The firefighters handed over the evacuation work to local militants and took field again. However, the highway was already overflowed by the rolling river.

Without torches, food, or even proper equipment, they had to return to the town. On their way back, they rescued two persons trapped in the flooded highway.