KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A new footbridge across a river collapsed while schoolchildren crossed it during a camping trip in Malaysia, killing at least one girl and leaving two missing and feared drowned in the currents below, officials said Tuesday. Police, firefighters and emergency services personnel scoured the Kampar River in northern Malaysia where the students went missing late Monday, Perak state Chief Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said. "They are looking for the bodies," Zambry told The Associated Press. Search teams found the body of one girl and were searching for the two other students, said Aziz Salleh, police chief of Kampar district. Police earlier said up to 22 children were missing, and Salleh blamed the error on inaccurate records of about 300 students who were on the trip. About 20 children managed to cling to the 160-foot-long (50-meter-long) suspension bridge when it collapsed, said Chen Fook Chye, a state lawmaker at the scene. "There is a lot of confusion right now, a lot of worried parents," Chen said. K. Mathivanan, 12, said the bridge had been swaying and abruptly collapsed after some students jumped on it. The scene turned chaotic as students screamed for help and started crying, Mathivanan told the national news agency, Bernama. The two-week-old bridge was built to replace an old one that had fallen apart with age, the report said. "Suddenly we were thrown into the river, but I managed to hold on to a rope," Mathivanan told Bernama. "The currents were strong but I pulled my body up" to the shore. The students were participating in a government-run project to foster multiracial understanding among children of different ethnic groups by making them camp together, cook traditional dishes and play cultural games.BERNAMA
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