Pakistani rescuers were searching for bodies yesterday after a bridge collapsed in the country?s northwest in torrential rain. At least 40 bodies have been recovered in Mardan in North West Frontier Province, and officials fear that the toll might cross 50. The bridge collapsed on Saturday in a central residential area of the city, about 50 km from the provincial capital Peshawar. ?People were standing on the bridge and watching the floods when it was washed away,? Javed Ahmed, the top administration official in Mardan, said.

He added that the central and residential parts of Mardan, had been flooded and the damage to property was considerable.

Torrential rains and heavy flooding have caused extensive damage and deaths in NWFP and Pakistani Kashmir, parts of which were also hit by a devastating earthquake last year. Incessant rains have forced some 6,000 quake survivors living in mountain areas to move to camps.