World

Brazil bridge collapse death toll rises to nine, with eight people still missing

Brazil’s navy said on Friday that the body of a woman was found six kilometres from the Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira Bridge.

The Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira Bridge collapsed into the Tocantins River in Estreito, Maranhao state, Brazil (Marinho Drones/AP)
The Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira Bridge collapsed into the Tocantins River in Estreito, Maranhao state, Brazil (Marinho Drones/AP) (Marinho Drones/AP)

A woman’s body has been found after a bridge linking two northern states in Brazil collapsed, bringing the death toll so far to nine.

Brazil’s navy said on Friday that the body was found six kilometres (3.7 miles) from the Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira Bridge. Another eight people remain unaccounted for.

Several cars and trucks crossing the bridge fell into the Tocantins River after a section crumbled on Sunday.

Police operating on the border of the northern states of Maranhao and Tocantins said four trucks, two cars and two motorcycles entered the river.

The 533 metre-long bridge between the cities of Estreito and Aguiarnopolis was built in the 1960s. It is about 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of the capital, Brasilia.