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Video: Bridge under construction collapses in Manchester

The bridge collapsed over the Manchester Ship Canal

A bridge under construction collapsed into a river in Manchester this morning.

The collapse happened near the M60’s Barton Bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal and emergency services were called to the scene.

Nobody is believed to have been injured in the incident which witnesses have described as sounding like an earthquake.

Reports suggest the collapse happened on a lifting bridge that is currently under construction.

The part that appears to have collapsed is between four pillars at the site.

According to the Manchester Evening News the bridge is part of a £50million traffic improvement scheme near the M60.

PIC BY DAN ROWLANDS/MERCURY PRESS (PICTURED: THE ROAD WAY CAN BE SEEN LEANING DANGEROUSLY OVER TO ONE SIDE OF THE NEW BRIDGE OVER THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL IN TRAFFORD, MANCHESTER) A major new £50m bridge under construction in Manchester has collapsed causing nearby buildings to 'shake like a train went through ití. Emergency services rushed to Trafford Way amid fears that builders were trapped under the giant concrete structure, which collapsed from a height of around 50ft at around 9.30am. Site workers described the noise of the collapse as 'a huge rumble of thunder' as smoke and dust clouded the sky near junction 10 of the M60. The new lifting bridge is part of a new dual carriageway being built over the Manchester Ship Canal. Electrician Paul McKivitt, 27, said: "I was inside a nearby building working in there was a this massive noise, like a huge rumble of thunder. "It was like a train going across the roof. The internal walls were actually visibly shaking." MORE TO FOLLOW SEE MERCURY COPY
Nobody is believed to have been injured in the collapse (Picture: Mercury)

One eye-witness, working near to the scene, tweeted: ‘I’m working on a building site near the bridge and I heard a huge rumble that shook the whole building.’

Another wrote: ‘Fire and ambulances deployed. Massive noise and smoke like something fell.’

A spokesman for the North West Ambulance Service said paramedic crews had been despatched to the scene, but only as a precaution.

There were no reports of any injuries, or people trapped. Everyone at the construction site had been accounted for.