A 100-meter (330-foot) piece of the Carola Bridge in the inner city of Dresden collapsed early in the morning on Wednesday, local authorities reported. The bridge is one of four crossing the Elbe river in downtown Dresden and the incident is likely to cause major traffic chaos in the eastern German city.

City officials said that due to the early hour, no one had been on the bridge and thus no one was hurt in the collapse, but that both car and ship traffic on the key waterway would have to be stopped for an undetermined amount of time.

Two Dresden tram lines that also used the bridge will be running a reduced service, they added. The last tram had traversed the bridge just 18 minutes before the 3:08 am collapse.

 "There is still an acute danger to life and risk of collapse," fire brigade spokesman Michael Klahre said in a video message later on Wednesday morning.

Police spokesman Thomas Geithner said officers who happened to be nearby "described hearing a loud, heavy noise, the ground shook."

Rescue services and other experts remained at the scene to assess the damage and secure the area.

Recent renovations

The streets around the bridge were also affected by the collapse. 

"In addition, due to the bursting of two large district heating pipes, we have the problem that the supply of hot water has come to a complete standstill in the entire state capital of Dresden," Klahre said.

First completed in 1895, the original Carola Bridge was blown up towards the end of World War II to try and stall the approaching Sovet Army. Reconstruction took place between 1967 and 1971. It underwent renovations from 2019 to 2021.

A cause for the collapse has not yet been determined.

es/kb (AFP, dpa)