Dignitaries gathered to inaugurate a footbridge in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Monday, only for the structure to collapse beneath their feet, video verified by Reuters shows.

Just as an organizer cut the ribbon at the ceremony in Kinshasa's Mont-Ngafula district, the bridge buckled, both its handrails broke off, and the central section slumped into the stream a couple of meters below.

Spectators shouted as the VIPs struggled to get off the crumpled wreck. Nobody was reported to have been hurt in the incident.

One of the last people to climb free was a man in military fatigues and dark glasses who was clutching an unopened bottle of champagne, other footage shared widely on social media shows.

(Reuters)

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