SRINAGAR, Nov 16: Five people were killed and 18 missing after a newly constructed bridge collapsed over a fast-flowing river in occupied Kashmir, police said on Sunday.

Volunteers and police who rushed to the site retrieved three bodies from the debris of the bridge in Uri district, 106km west of Srinagar.

Two bodies were fished out of the Jhelum river that flows into Azad Kashmir over which the bridge was built, police officer Abdul Rashid told AFP by phone from Uri town.

Most of the dead and missing were labourers involved in construction or locals using the bridge, Rashid said, adding that it was not immediately clear what caused the collapse. Heavy rain was hampering the relief effort.—AFP