At least six people were
killed when a decades-old bridge collapsed in
heavy rain in the capital of Sierra Leone on
Friday, leaving dozens feared trapped in the
rubble and sparking a major rescue operation,
police said. The King Jimmy crossing, which connects the
west of the capital with the city centre,
collapsed at around 04:00 am. Six bodies were recovered from the scene,
police said in a statement, without giving
details about the victims. “Many more are still believed to be trapped in
the wreckage,” a senior security official told
reporters. Rescue workers as well as military officers and
policemen were scouring the accident site for
survivors as torrential rain continued to lash
the city. Local residents told AFP that dozens of
homeless youngsters usually live under the
bridge in the rundown area, sparking fears they
were buried when the structure gave way. “There was a slight rumble and then the bridge
snapped amidst a hale of choking brown dust,”
said one witness, who did not wish to be
named. Works Minister Alimamy Koroma visited the
scene and said it was “an unfortunate disaster
which will be thoroughly investigated” while the
mayor of Freetown, Bode Gibson, called it “a
sad development”. The bridge is one of the major crossings in
central Freetown. It is named after a chief who
led a local tribe around the 1700s and is located
near a vibrant riverside market from where
thousands of people were trafficked as slaves
to the Americas in the 18th century
killed when a decades-old bridge collapsed in
heavy rain in the capital of Sierra Leone on
Friday, leaving dozens feared trapped in the
rubble and sparking a major rescue operation,
police said. The King Jimmy crossing, which connects the
west of the capital with the city centre,
collapsed at around 04:00 am. Six bodies were recovered from the scene,
police said in a statement, without giving
details about the victims. “Many more are still believed to be trapped in
the wreckage,” a senior security official told
reporters. Rescue workers as well as military officers and
policemen were scouring the accident site for
survivors as torrential rain continued to lash
the city. Local residents told AFP that dozens of
homeless youngsters usually live under the
bridge in the rundown area, sparking fears they
were buried when the structure gave way. “There was a slight rumble and then the bridge
snapped amidst a hale of choking brown dust,”
said one witness, who did not wish to be
named. Works Minister Alimamy Koroma visited the
scene and said it was “an unfortunate disaster
which will be thoroughly investigated” while the
mayor of Freetown, Bode Gibson, called it “a
sad development”. The bridge is one of the major crossings in
central Freetown. It is named after a chief who
led a local tribe around the 1700s and is located
near a vibrant riverside market from where
thousands of people were trafficked as slaves
to the Americas in the 18th century
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