HONG KONG — A newly opened bridge in China's southwestern province of Sichuan partially collapsed on Tuesday, sending concrete and steel plunging into a river just months after it opened, according to Chinese state media.

Authorities had closed the 758m-long Hongqi bridge on Monday after cracks appeared on nearby slopes and roads.

On Tuesday afternoon conditions on the mountainside worsened, triggering landslides that led to the collapse of part of the bridge, officials added.

There were no reports of casualties.

Construction of the bridge finished earlier this year, according to a social media post by contractors Sichuan Road and Bridge Group.

Footage of the collapse, shared widely on Chinese social media, showed the Hongqi Bridge in Sichuan Province buckling before falling into the river below, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

The incident occurred around 3 p.m. local time near the G317 national highway, according to China Central Television (CCTV) News.

The bridge was located in Sichuan Province’s mountainous Maerkang area and completed earlier this year as part of the G317 national highway—an important route connecting central China to Tibet.

The bridge’s construction was part of a broader government push to improve connectivity and spur economic growth across western China’s rugged terrain, Times Now reported.

It was intended to serve as a symbol of the country’s infrastructure ambitions but had only reopened to traffic a few months before the collapse—marking a short-lived chapter for what was meant to showcase China’s engineering progress.

State-run outlets have not yet identified the cause of the collapse, though early assessments suggest geological instability may have played a role. No vehicles or pedestrians were on the bridge at the time, officials said, and investigations are underway. — Agencies