Up to 80 people were Monday missing and feared dead after an aging bridge collapsed into the swollen Douro river in northern Portugal, taken a bus and two cars with it, witnesses said.
Rescuers, who according to public RTP television had retrieved two bodies by Monday morning, said there was little chance of finding survivors given the strong current that could have swept the victims far down-river.
Infrastructure Minister Jorge Coelho accepted personal blame for the collapse of the 115-year-old bridge that linked the towns of Castelo de Paiva and Entre-os-Rios and resigned in the early hours of Monday morning.
His resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, who left Lisbon early Monday for Castelo de Paiva after declaring two days of mourning -- Tuesday and Wednesday -- for the victims.
The mayor of the town, Paulo Teixeira, told private SIC television that he had been warning the government for a long time that the bridge, crossed by 1,600 vehicles per day, "did not offer basic safety conditions." A new bridge had been planned.
Witnesses quoted by the Lusa news agency said a pillar of the metal bridge collapsed at 9:10 pm (2110 GMT) Sunday, sending some 80 metres (yards) of the structure crashing into the river below.
A bus carrying 67 passengers and two cars which were crossing the bridge went plummeting into the torrent with it. Witnesses said they believed the cars were carrying many passengers.
A fireman who was walking across the bridge in the opposite direction, said "the bus which was approaching me suddenly disappeared. Then all I could see below in the water were its lights and flashing indicator light," he told Lisbon's TSF radio.
The bus was returning to Castelo de Paiva after taking tourists to see almond trees in blossom in the Douro valley region, firemen said. It was not immediately known whether foreign tourists had been in the bus.
More than 50 rescuers from the fire service and the maritime police working with five boats were hampered by the darkness and fog and called off the rescue during the night, resuming it at first light.
Residents of Castelo de Paiva gathered on the bank of the river on Monday morning to watch divers plumbing the depths of the raging river while firemen took to dinghies and helicopters carried out a search from the air.
Leticia Malta, in charge of the emergency centre in Oporto, told Lusa the chances of finding survivors were "practically nil".
Television pictures showed a body being brought to shore in a rubber dinghy. Lusa said the victim was a woman aged about 50.
The body of a male was recovered late on Sunday.
Local fire chief Antonio Fontes said the water was currently about 10 metres (33 feet) higher than normal because of strong winter rains in recent weeks.
He estimated the depth of the water at the bridge to be between 15 and 30 metres (50 to 100 feet).
Minister Coelho told a news conference soon after the tragedy: "My decision is irrevocable. After the serious accident that has occurred I admit that I am no longer able to continue to carry out my functions."
The prime minister's office quoted Guterres as saying: "It is a very dignified attitude by someone who had no personal responsibility in this tragic accident."
The bridge, 200 metres (660 feet) long and three metres (10 feet) wide, was built in 1886.
The accident was the worst bus disaster in Europe since 46 people were killed in a smash near Castellon de la Plana, north of the Spanish coastal city of Valencia, in August 1992 -- ENTRE-OS-RIOS, Portugal (AFP)
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