This handout picture from Yamato-cho Town Office, Kumamoto prefecture taken and released on July 3, 2023 shows a collapsed bridge over the Mifune river due to heavy rain. (PHOTO / AFP)
TOKYO – Two construction workers were killed and six others injured after an under-construction elevated expressway collapsed on Thursday in central Japan's Shizuoka city.
Around 30 workers were present at the time of the accident, shifting the steel frame into a different position, according to the Shizuoka National Highway Office
At around 3:10 am local time, the accident was reported to the police by a passerby who heard a crashing sound as a steel structure fell at a construction site in the Obane district of Shimizu Ward.
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The two workers who were later confirmed dead were two men in their 50s, reported the Japan Times citing local police, adding that two other workers were seriously injured.
According to the police, the collapsed section of the expressway, a 65-meter steel frame weighing around 140 tonnes and forming the foundation of the elevated roadway, fell from a height of some 9 meters.
Around 30 workers were present at the time of the accident, shifting the steel frame into a different position, according to the Shizuoka National Highway Office.
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An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident.