Headline

Baltimore: Six Deadliest Bridge Collapses Of The Past 20 Years

Published

2 years ago

March 27, 2024

A major rescue effort is underway in the US city of Baltimore after a container ship struck a key bridge, sending several vehicles plummeting into the Patapsco River.

Here is a recap of some of the worst bridge collapses around the world in the past 20 years.

1. 2022: Nearly 140 dead in India

At least 137 people, including nearly 50 children, were killed after a 150-year-old suspension bridge collapsed in the Indian state of Gujarat days after reopening following renovations.

Hundreds of people had gathered on the bridge in Morbi to celebrate the last day of the holiday of Diwali.

CCTV footage showed the bridge swaying – with a few people apparently deliberately rocking it – before it suddenly gave way, sending people tumbling into a river and leaving others clinging to the wreckage.

2. 2021: 26 dead in Mexico

An elevated section of track on the Mexico City metro system collapsed in May 2021, bringing a passenger train crashing down, killing 26 people, and injuring dozens.

The incident in the megacity shakes public confidence in a transport system used daily by millions.

An investigation concluded that the accident was caused both by structural flaws and a lack of maintenance.

3. 2018: 43 dead in Italy

The collapse of a bridge in the Italian city of Genoa killed 43 people.

The Morandi bridge, part of a key highway connecting France and Italy, gave way in torrential rain in August, sending dozens of vehicles and their passengers tumbling into the abyss.

The tragedy highlighted the poor state of repair of Italy’s roads, bridges, and railways.

An investigation also found a lack of “even minimal maintenance work” to reinforce the bridge over its 51-year history.

4. 2011-2016: A trio of disasters in India

In March 2016, the collapse of a flyover onto a busy street in the Indian city of Kolkata killed at least 26 people.

Investigators said workers who were welding the bridge at the time noticed cracks appearing but that instead of warning people, they tried to weld the cracks together.

In late 2011, two bridges collapsed within a week of each other – one near the hill town of Darjeeling in the northeast, the other over a river in the northeastern state Arunachal Pradesh. Over 60 people were killed in total.

5. 2007: China: 64 dead

At least 64 workers were killed in August when a river bridge in China’s central Hunan province collapsed as they were completing its construction.
6. 2006: Pakistan and India

In August, in Pakistan, at least 40 people died as monsoon rains washed away a bridge in Mardan, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Peshawar in the northwest of the country.

In December, in India, at least 34 people died when a 150-year-old bridge collapsed on a passenger train in the railway station in the eastern state of Bihar.

AFP

Related Topics:Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Up Next

Nigerian Female Engineer Invents Smart Bra To Detect Breast Cancer

Don't Miss

US Bridge Collapses After Ship Collision

Comments

Headline

Africa Coups: 10 In Five Years

Published

16 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A military coup attempt in Benin Sunday adds to a list of such incidents on the turbulent African continent.
A group of soldiers announced that they had ousted President Patrice Talon, although his entourage said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Here is a recap of the 10 successful coups in Africa in the last five years:

Mali

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is overthrown by five army colonels in August 2020.

In May 2021, the Malian military takes over from the civilian leaders of an interim government.
Colonel Assimi Goita, who led both coups, is sworn in as transitional president.

After promising to hold elections in February 2024, the military puts them off indefinitely, pointing to the jihadist violence plaguing the country.

In July 2025, Goita approves a law granting himself a five-year presidential mandate, renewable without election.
In September jihadists launch a fuel blockade, weakening the ruling junta.

Guinea

On September 5, 2021, mutinous troops led by lieutenant-colonel Mamady Doumbouya take over in Guinea, arresting President Alpha Conde.

Doumbouya in early November 2025 submits his candidacy ahead of December 28 elections that are meant to restore constitutional order.

Sudan

After weeks of tension between the military and civilian leaders who had shared power since the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir, the armed forces led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stage a new coup on October 25, 2021.

Since April 2023 war has raged between the regular armed forces led by Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

The conflict has so far killed tens of thousands of people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso underwent two military coups in 2022.

In January that year mutinous soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba arrest President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Then in September army officers announce they have dismissed Damiba. Captain Ibrahim Traore becomes transitional president, but elections he promised do not materialise. In May 2024 the junta authorises him to stay for another five years in a country wracked by Islamist violence.

Niger

On July 26, 2023, members of the presidential guard overthrow Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in 2021. General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the presidential guard, takes over.

In March 2025, the junta extends by at least five years its transitional leadership of the country which is plagued by jihadist violence.

Gabon

In Gabon, ruled for 55 years by the Bongo family, army officers on August 30, 2023 overthrow President Ali Bongo Ondimba, less than an hour after he is declared winner of an election the opposition says was fraudulent.
General Brice Oligui Nguema is named transitional president.

In April 2025 he is elected president with 94.85 percent of the vote. He is sworn in on the basis of a new constitution approved by referendum during the transition.

Madagascar

In October 2025, the military ousts Madagascar’s president Andry Rajoelina and takes power following weeks of “Gen Z” anti-government protests.

Army colonel Michael Randrianirina is sworn in as Madagascar’s new president, promising elections within 18 to 24 months.

Guinea-Bissau

In November 2025, military officers in Guinea-Bissau declare they have “total control” of the coup-prone west African country, closing its borders and suspending its electoral process three days after general elections.

The military says a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces” is taking over the leadership of the country “until further notice”.

Headline

Benin Republic Presidency Breaks Silence On ‘Military Takeover’

Published

23 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Benin Republic military
Military personnel in Benin on Sunday said they had ousted President Patrice Talon, but the Presidency said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Talon, 67, a former businessman known as the “cotton king of Cotonou,” is due to hand over power in April next year after 10 years in office marked by strong economic growth and rising jihadist violence.

West Africa has seen several coups in recent years, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and most recently Guinea-Bissau.

Early on Sunday, soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR) said on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic.”

The signal was cut later in the morning.

Shortly after the announcement, a source close to Talon told AFP the president was safe.

“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city (Cotonou) and the country are completely secure,” they said.

“It’s just a matter of time before everything returns to normal. The clean-up is progressing well.”

A military source confirmed the situation was “under control” and said the coup plotters had not taken Talon’s residence or the presidential offices.

The French Embassy reported on X that “gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo” near the president’s official residence in the economic capital and urged French citizens to remain indoors.

Benin has a history of coups and attempted coups.

Talon, who came to power in 2016, is due to end his second term in 2026, the constitutional maximum.

The main opposition party has been excluded from the race to succeed him, leaving the ruling party to compete against a so-called “moderate” opposition.

Talon has been praised for driving economic development but is often accused of authoritarianism.

(AFP)

Headline

JUST IN: Soldiers Announce Military Takeover Of Govt In Benin Republic

Published

24 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television on Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in what is being described as an apparent coup, marking yet another power seizure in West Africa.

Identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, the soldiers declared the removal of the president and all state institutions.

President Patrice Talon, who has been in office since 2016, was scheduled to leave office next April after the presidential election. His party’s preferred candidate, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, had been widely viewed as the frontrunner. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was disqualified by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have “sufficient sponsors.”

The takeover comes a month after Benin’s legislature extended the presidential term from five to seven years while retaining the two-term limit.

(AFP)