Dubai bridge collapse kills 7 workers, injures 15

updated 2:26 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2007

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A bridge under construction in a new development in Dubai collapsed Thursday, killing seven workers and injuring 15, police said.

The workers were employees of the Wade Adams Group, a Middle East-based contracting company, said N.M. Naushad, the company's human resources director, without confirming the number of dead and injured.

The bridge, spanning a small canal, was being built in Dubai Marina, a new residential and commercial development in this booming Gulf city.

Police cordoned off the scene with tape, and ambulances took away the bodies of the dead and injured as their colleagues from the construction site stood around and watched, witnesses said.

Officials from Rashid Hospital in Dubai said they admitted 15 injured workers, including five with serious injuries, who were airlifted from the accident site. Both the police and hospital officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

"We tried to put a huge piece of metal in a wall when it collapsed," said Muthu Raj, one of the 30 Indian workers he said were on the bridge when it collapsed. "I saw colleagues trapped inside, but I managed to jump back and stepped on the road."

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