A bridge has collapsed on the E42 in La Louvière, Wallonia, with several reported casualties. One person has died, three others are injured, according to the Hainaut-Centre emergency services.
The incident occurred at around 14:00 on Thursday, according to the mayor of La Louvière, Jacques Gobert (PS).
The bridge was under construction at the time of the incident and crossed over a canal. Several construction cranes were dragged down and fell onto a barge positioned below to collect any debris from the construction site.
Among the 12 people present on the site, four were injured and taken to hospital. One of them was in a critical condition after he ended up in the canal, and has now died from his injuries. Initially, the mayor reported three casualties.
All the injured were evacuated from the scene of the accident. The other eight people are unharmed. An emergency plan has been put in place, but the situation is currently under control, according to the firefighters.
Site where a bridge collapsed in La Louviere on Thursday 6 March 2025. Credit: Belga/Bruno Fahy
The emergency services are on site, as are divers, a federal police helicopter, a unit specialising in accidents in collapsed environments, as well as people from various services such as stability specialists.
The parallel bridge, which carried all the traffic from the E42, "has been closed as a precautionary measure to allow the emergency services access to the area and to enable them to work in complete safety," explains Sofico, the manager of the motorway infrastructure in Wallonia.
Users travelling on the E42 from Charleroi towards Mons should take the interchange with the A501 and then the E19. Conversely, those travelling on the E42-E19 from Mons towards Charleroi should take the E19 and then the A501.
The bridge over the Canal du Centre had been under construction since February 2024. After asbestos removal operations, the bridge was being demolished.
Access to the canal had been closed from Thursday morning until 14 March to allow the building to be dismantled. Navigation on the waterway remains closed "until further notice," says Sarah Pierre, spokesperson for SPW Mobilité.
An earlier version of this story stated that three people had died. Casualty figures were updated at 16:23.
This article was updated on Friday morning to include that one of the injured people has died.
