‘The whole bridge is going!’ Video captures moment bridge collapses into raging river

A bridge collapsed in dramatic fashion on New Zealand’s State Highway 6 this week, with stunned onlookers capturing its final moments on their cell phones.

The New Zealand Transport Agency posted on Facebook that “a number of highways on the West Coast remain closed today after torrential rain and rock-filled rivers took out the Waiho River Bridge Tuesday afternoon.”

Video posted by multiple witnesses showed the foaming water relentlessly slamming against the bridge’s supports until they started to buckle.

No injuries were reported and video shows no vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse.

One video, credited to Jacob Schonberger of New Zealand, shows the concrete and metal bridge took just a minute and a half to fold up -- cracking and popping -- into the river.

NewsTalkZB reported areas south of the bridge at the Franz Josef township can now only be reached by helicopter.

The area got 21 inches of rain in 48 hours, “or nearly 10 percent of its yearly normal,” leading to widespread flooding, reported NIWA Weather in Auckland, New Zealand.

A state of emergency was declared in the area due to rising rivers and Newshub reported tourists were trapped in the now “isolated” Franz Josef community.

Schonberger’s video of the bridge collapse has gotten international attention and been been viewed tens of thousands of times.

This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 8:04 AM.