Dozens still missing after Nepal bridge collapse

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Divers and ground rescuers scoured an icy river and its banks in west Nepal on Thursday for 30 people still missing after a suspension bridge collapsed, leaving at least 16 dead and 80 others injured, officials said.

The metal bridge meant to carry pedestrians broke and fell into the Bheri river on Tuesday while hundreds of people were crossing it to attend a local religious fair near Chhinchu village, 320 km (200 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu.

Of 40 people earlier reported by relatives as missing, nine have returned to their families and a girl was undergoing treatment in a hospital, officials said.

"I believe more people will return to their families and the number of missing will further come down today," Bharat Bahadur G.C., a top police officer in Surkhet, the biggest city in the region, said on Thursday.

"Some people could have been swept away by the icy river and there is little chance of finding them alive now," he said, adding it was so cold divers were unable to swim for long.

Anil Pandey, the region's top bureaucrat, rejected reports that said hundreds of people were missing.

"Only some portion of the collapsed bridge is in water and the rest is on the river bank, so many people could have walked home," Pandey said after a visit to the remote accident site.

Many of the injured victims who were taken to hospital and local health posts have returned home, while others, some with broken bones, are still under treatment, officials said.

Mountainous Nepal lacks road networks in its rugged countryside, and trail bridges supported by iron pillars and cables connect remote villages across the Himalayan rivers.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Jerry Norton)