The rider, surnamed Zhang, lost control of his motorcycle as he rounded a curve on the lower road deck.

Video footage circulating on Chinese social media showed the bike drifting out of the rightmost lane, crossing the solid white line, and plowing into a group of people walking along the guardrail. Several were knocked to the ground.

A motorcyclist crashes pedestrians on Jinshajiang Road-Rail Bridge in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, March 20, 2026. Video courtesy of GDLeo

One pedestrian died. Zhang and five others were injured to varying degrees. All five surviving pedestrians are being treated in hospital and are not in life-threatening condition, police said.

Witnesses told Shangyou News, a Chongqing-based outlet, that the victims were elderly.

A blood alcohol test showed Zhang had a reading of 68 mg/100ml. Under Chinese law, any level above 20 mg/100ml constitutes driving under the influence, an administrative offense, while 80 mg/100ml or above triggers criminal charges for drunk driving. Zhang has been detained by police.

In a detail that complicates the narrative, Yibin traffic police said both pedestrians and motorcycles are banned from using the bridge's main road. That means the rider and all six victims were in violation of traffic rules when the crash occurred.

The Jinshajiang Road-Rail Bridge, completed in 2019, held the record for the world's largest-span road-rail steel arch bridge at the time of its construction, with a main span of 336 meters. Its lower road deck is designated as an urban expressway with a speed limit of 60 kph.