Scores hurt as US bridge collapses

Dozens of people were on the bridge when it collapsed

A footbridge over a four-lane US highway has collapsed, injuring at least 100 people, some of them seriously.

A lot of people went down and some of them were elderly so you don't know how bad it is

Eyewitness

The walkway, near Concord, North Carolina, snapped in half as tens of thousands of people left a motor speedway event on Saturday evening.

Emergency workers and members of the public attended to the injured, while others tried to lift sections of the bridge by hand to free those trapped underneath.

People were treated where they lay in the road

Local officials said at least 100 people had been injured, and were taken to four hospitals.

One local hospital, the North East Medical Centre in Concord, said they had received 43 casualties, many with broken bones.

Spokeswoman Caroline Moore told the BBC that 15 people at the hospital were critically ill.

Other casualties were taken to hospital in nearby Charlotte.

Members of the public and rescuers helped victims

The collapse happened as spectators left a National Association for Stock Car Racing (Nascar) all-stars race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

A section of the bridge about 9m long caved in as about 70 people crossed over.

Track president H A "Humpy" Wheeler said the bridge, constructed in 1995, and a second walkway, were built to ease traffic flow.

Investigation

"They have never given us any trouble before," he said.

"They were built to [government] specifications since this is a US highway..

Firemen searched for victims under the rubble

"We've got engineers coming in to look at it, to find out what caused it."

Ed Walker of Columbia, South Carolina, said he crossed the bridge and heard it snap.

"Just a lot of people went down and some of them were elderly so you don't know how bad it is," he said.

"People were hollering. The first reaction was to account for everybody you were with."

An estimated 180,000 were at the racing circuit when the bridge collapsed. The vast complex covers 2,000 acres and is used for a number of major events in the speedway calendar.