(File photo: IC)

Three deaths and two injuries have resulted from the collapse of an overpass in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu Province, on Thursday. A preliminary investigation showed that the collapse was caused by an overloaded vehicle.

Three cars were crushed beneath the elevated road when it fell. One had been parked and was unoccupied at the time. The other two cars were carrying three people in total, all of whom died in the incident, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Following the accident, more than 500 armed police officers participated in rescue work. Damage figures have yet to be released, and rescue work is still underway.

The government of Suzhou, neighboring Wuxi, has begun to examine large trucks and dispense punishments for overloaded vehicles.

Open data showed the construction of the section of national highway in Wuxi was completed in November 2005. It covers over 48 kilometers.

In 2012, an elevated road in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, collapsed and four trucks fell with it. The incident killed three people and injured five. An investigation suggested the direct cause of the collapse was that all four fallen trucks were heavily overloaded.