At least four people died and six were injured as an under-construction highway bridge dramatically collapsed in South Korea’s Anseong on Tuesday (Feb 25).

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The accident happened at a highway construction site some 65 kilometres south of Seoul.

The steel structures collapsed while being hoisted by a crane.

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What happened?

At around 9:49 am (0049 GMT) five 50 metre (164.04 feet) steel structures supporting the highway bridge collapsed one after the other after being hoisted into place by a crane, reported the Yonhap news agency.

The National Fire Agency in a statement said that at least four people have died and five of the six injured are in critical condition.

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A dramatic video of the collapsing highway is going viral on social media. The three-second video shows how the steel structures crumbled and fell.

Watch it here:

How did it happen?

The cause of the collapse of the under-construction bridge on a section of the Seoul-Sejong expressway is not yet known.

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As per Yonhap, several slabs placed on a pier fell to the ground, crushing 10 people working underneath the bridge. At the time of writing this, one person was still trapped under the rubble and rescue workers were trying to pull them out.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok has issued emergency instructions to deploy all available resources and personnel for the rescue operation.

Hyundai Engineering, the builder, apologised for the loss of lives and injuries and said it was "actively cooperating with the relevant authorities to ensure a swift site recovery and a thorough investigation into the exact cause of the accident".

(With inputs from agencies)