Safety fears for projects grow as three people die in flyover road collapse ... the sixth major construction disaster since July last year. Is corruption to blame?

Three people were killed and five injured when an eight-lane motorway bridge in northeast China collapsed yesterday, only nine months after it opened.

The bridge, designed to handle up to 9,800 vehicles an hour, was part of an airport expressway in Harbin city that took two years to construct at a cost of €240 million.

A 100-metre section broke off when four heavy trucks drove onto it, hurling them to the ground below.

Two people were killed on the spot, a third died later, and five remain in hospital.

At least six major bridges have collapsed across the country since July last year, and shoddy construction and overloading are to blame, according to investigators.

China has rapidly expanded its road and rail infrastructure in the past decade as its economy has boomed, but critics say that safety has sometimes been overlooked in the rush to develop.

At least 40 people were killed when two high-speed trains collided near the eastern city of Wenzhou in July last year, and another train crash on Thursday in Heilongjiang province, where Harbin is located, left at least 24 people injured.

Authorities investigating yesterday’s incident will look into the bridge design and construction as well as the truck loads, the Harbin government said.

Thousands of people in China are blaming the disasters on corruption.

“Just imagine, some corrupt official takes four-fifths of the project funds, that means the project manager can only make money by skimping on the job,” said one computer blogger.

“I really want to yell at someone,” said another. “Seeing the pictures is so tragic.”