200 missing after Nepal bridge collapse

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Police in southwestern Nepal said about 200 people were missing after a bridge over the Bheri River collapsed.

The police said the year-old suspension bridge was holding as many as 1,000 Hindu pilgrims Tuesday when it collapsed, sending hundreds some 150 feet into the water below, CNN reported Wednesday. Many people swam to safety and 15 bodies were pulled from the water, police said. Twenty women and 12 men were hospitalized after the collapse. About 200 people were missing Wednesday.

"The rescuers have not given up yet. They're still there and they're still looking for bodies," journalist Manesh Shrestha told CNN.

"The bridge collapsed because there were hundreds of people on it," said Nepalese police officer Nibandha Budha. "They had gone to the river for a three-day Hindu religious festival on the occasion of full moon."

He said between 700 and 1,000 people are thought to have been on the bridge when it collapsed. Budha said most of the pilgrims were women and children and women in the country aren't encouraged to learn how to swim.