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One dies in bridge collapse

KALAPARA (Bangladesh): A section of a bridge collapsed on Saturday as thousands of hungry cyclone victims stampeded toward aid workers delivering rice along Bangladesh’s coast, officials said. Dozens were injured and at least one person died.

Rescuers used cranes to remove concrete slabs from the collapsed 9-metre section to search for people feared crushed underneath, while frantic villagers gathered at the site on a river in Patuakhali district, one of the areas hardest hit by Tropical Cyclone Sidr earlier this month.

Dozens were injured and one person was killed, said Ashraful Zaman, an official at the local Disaster Management Control Room. The bridge collapse demonstrated how desperate villagers are becoming as aid workers struggle to reach them. Mr. Zaman said the stampede across the 150-metre bridge was triggered by an offer of rice by a private group that had not alerted local officials. — AP

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