Five dead, 18 missing in Indian occupied Kashmir bridge collapse

Five people were killed and 18 missing after a newly constructed bridge collapsed over a fast-flowing river in the Indian occupied Kashmir, police said on Sunday.
Volunteers and police who rushed to the site retrieved three bodies from the debris of the bridge in Uri district, 106 kilometres west of Kashmir's capital occupied Srinagar.
Two bodies were fished out of the Jhelum river that flows into neighbouring Pakistan-administered Kashmir over which the bridge was built, police officer Abdul Rashid told AFP by phone from Uri town. Most of the dead and missing were labourers involved in construction or locals using the bridge, Rashid said, adding that it was not immediately clear what caused the collapse. Heavy rain and snow was hampering the relief effort, witness Irshad Ahmed said. The bridge was to be officially opened later this month.