SHANGHAI (REUTERS, AFP) - Three people died and two were injured as a highway bridge collapsed on Thursday evening (Oct 10) in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, in China.

The collapse of the section of National Highway 312 happened at around 6.10pm local time.

According to Chinese state media outlet Xinhua, the overpass bridge collapsed and fell on three cars underneath. One vehicle was parked and contained no passengers. The other two contained three people, who were killed.

Three cars and two trucks fell from the bridge as it collapsed.

Videos posted online showed a large section of the bridge swaying before falling on top of moving vehicles.

One clip posted on Twitter-like Weibo showed the bridge narrowly missing a small three-wheel car, whose driver leapt out and ran away.

Other images showed crushed cars, with only their front sections or headlights visible under a huge block of grey concrete.

Xinhua said China's Ministry of Transportation and Wuxi city were investigating the cause of the accident.

A preliminary investigation showed the collapse had been caused by an overloaded truck, the Wuxi city government said in a statement on Weibo.

Construction and road accidents are not uncommon in China.

In February 2018, at least eight people died in downtown Foshan, Guangdong province, when a water leak inside a subway station construction site caused a major road to cave in.