EDIS Number: AC-20091108-23753-ESP
Date / time: 08/11/2009 04:21:12 [UTC]
Event: Technological Disaster
Area: Europe
Country: Spain
State/County: Andorra
City: Massana
Number of Deads: 3 persons
Number of Injured: 7 persons
Damage level: Minor

Description:

A bridge under construction collapsed yesterday in Andorra, killing three workers, injuring seven and leaving one missing under rubble, the government said. Six men were receiving treatment in Andorra and one had been flown to Barcelona in Spain for medical attention to a face injury, Andorra's head of government Jaume Bartumeu said. One of the dead was a Portuguese national, Jose Manuel Silva, counsellor for the Portuguese community in Andorra, told Portugal's state news agency Lusa. A complex maze of steel and concrete used in the construction of a viaduct collapsed on the men, Bartumeu said. The 3-kilometre bridge and tunnel project, which when finished will link two valleys near the town of Massana, was due to be inaugurated next year. Rescue workers were trying to find the missing man, Bartumeu said. Andorra, which has a population of 84,000, is a picturesque principality and tax haven in the Pyrenees Mountains on the Spanish-French border.