Thanh Hoa authorities yesterday ordered the suspension of a bridge project following a scaffold collapse Saturday that killed four people at the construction site.

The site where the accident occured.

The accident reportedly occurred at about 6:30pm when the employees were working on the girder part of the bridge across the Quanh stream in Ta Pan village, Trung Son Commune.

Two of the workers killed were 24 years old - Nguyen Tuan Vu, of Ha Noi, and Nguyen Dinh Tung, of Thai Binh Province.

The other two victims were Bui Van Trung, 36, and Phan Van Thinh, 32, both of Ha Tinh Province.

The bodies of the victims have been brought back to their hometowns for funeral processions.

Police blocked access to the construction site to investigate the accident.

The Quanh stream bridge project is part of a bigger infrastructure plan by the Thanh Hoa Department of Transportation to connect mountainous districts in the western part of the province.

Construction on the bridge, which is expected to be more than 250 metres long and cost more than VND182 billion ($8 million), started in June 2010 and has remained unfinished due to a funding shortage.

VNS