BEIJING (AP) - An elevated portion of highway in central China collapsed on Friday after a truck loaded with fireworks for Lunar New Year celebrations exploded, killing at least nine people and sending vehicles plummeting 30 meters (about 100 feet) to the ground.

The official Xinhua News Agency said nine people were confirmed dead and another 13 injured, including four in serious condition. It said the collapse smashed and buried at least 25 vehicles.

Earlier reports by China National Radio and some other outlets of 26 people killed were later removed from websites, without explanation.

An 80-meter (260-foot) stretch of the major east-west highway collapsed in Mianchi county in Henan province. It scattered blackened chunks of debris and shattered the windows of a nearby truck stop.

(AP) Rescuers work at the accident site where an expressway bridge partially collapsed due to a truck... Full Image

"I heard a huge bang and immediately braked. I saw small fireballs falling down one by one," said the unidentified truck driver, whose truck windshield was smashed from the impact of the blast.

"I then heard the sounds of clanking and exploding for five to six minutes," the driver said. "My face was covered in dust."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130201/DA45RNFO1.html