Suspension bridge collapse kills 10 children in Indonesia’s Aceh province; 5 still missing

Bridge collapse kills 10 children in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Ten children died when a suspension bridge collapsed in western Indonesia over the weekend, officials said Monday. Rescuers were searching for three others still missing.

Dozens of people were on the bridge in Aceh province watching a traditional ceremony intended to ward off disasters when it collapsed in six-feet (two-meter) high floodwaters triggered by heavy rains, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono.

He said rescuers found two more bodies Monday, raising the death toll to 10.

The children killed in Sunday’s disaster were between the ages of 6 and 13, said Muhammad Yusuf, chief of Aih Ilang village.

Seasonal downpours cause annual flash flooding in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.