Bridge deaths pressure on ministers

LISBON, Portugal (CNN) -- A Portuguese minister and five of his deputies have resigned after a bridge collapsed, with more than 70 people feared dead.

Prime Minister Antonio Guterres accepted the resignation of public works minister Jorge Coelho on Monday amid pressure on the government to assume responsibility.

A bus and two cars fell 50 metres off the broken bridge into the Douro river at Entre-os-Rios in the north of the country.

Coelho had approved the construction of a new bridge last year, but work never started.

"I assume the political responsibility," Coelho said on Monday, during a news conference to announce his resignation and those of his deputies.

The Social Democrats, the main opposition group, attacked the government for negligence.

They said Luis Parreirao, one of the outgoing deputies, had said that repairs were made on the bridge three years ago but engineers had found no indication of structural problems.

The government said that an inquiry commission would be formed to investigate why the 116-year-old bridge collapsed.

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Portugal Civil Defence
Portuguese Presidency

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