Five workers at a bridge construction site in central China's Hubei Province drowned in the Yangtze River early Wednesday morning, according to the local government.

The workers, who were helping to put a basket of steel bars into an under-construction bridge pier, fell into the river with the basket at around 2:10 a.m. after the wire ropes linking the basket and a crane broke, according to the Jingzhou City publicity department.

The construction headquarters of the Jingzhou-Yueyang Yangtze River Bridge immediately organized divers to search for the missing workers, while more than 60 rescuers were sent by the local government to form a joint-rescue operation.

The bodies were recovered by 9:55 a.m.

The victims were all from Nanchong City in southwestern Sichuan Province. Their families were now traveling to Jingzhou to deal with the aftermath.

The Hubei department of communication and the city government of Jingzhou have jointly set up an investigation team to look into the cause of the accident. In addition, the bridge construction headquarter was required to carry out a thorough examination of all its equipment and facilities.

The 4,210-meter-long Jingzhou-Yueyang Yangtze River Bridge was being built at an estimated cost of 2.1 billion yuan (284.6 million U.S. dollars). It will link Bailuo Town of Jingzhou and the Daorenji Town of Yueyang City, Hunan Province, when completed in 2009.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2007)