Aug 14 (Reuters) - A road bridge on the verge of completion in China collapsed, killing 22 people in a possible indication of safety standards ridden rough-shod in the face of breakneck economic development.

Here is a short timeline of road bridge collapses around the world in recent years:

Oct. 17, 1989 - UNITED STATES - Part of the Cypress Freeway, a supposedly earthquake-proof highway, gives way during the 7.1-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco, killing almost two-thirds of the 67 victims of the disaster.

Oct. 21, 1994 - SOUTH KOREA - Thirty-one people are killed when a central section of the Songsu bridge in Seoul sheared off during the morning rush hour and plunged into the Han river.

Oct 2, 1994 - CHINA - Thirty-three people are killed at an amusement park in Congua, Guangdong province, after the railing on a suspension bridge gave way, plunging them all into a lake.

Jan. 17, 1995 - JAPAN - A 600-yard (metre) section of an elevated, four-lane highway in Kobe flips sideways during the Kobe earthquake, throwing cars to the ground and killing 18 people.

Oct. 8, 1995 - ALGERIA - About 50 people are killed when a bridge collapsed under heavy rain near the oasis town of Aflou in Laghouat province.

Jan. 4, 1999 - CHINA - At least 40 people, including a squad of 23 police officers, are killed when the Rainbow Bridge in Qijiang county collapsed beneath them.

March 4, 2001 - PORTUGAL - As many as 59 people are killed after the Hintze-Ribeiro bridge in northern Portugal collapsed, throwing a bus into the waters.

May 27, 2002 - UNITED STATES - Fourteen people are killed when part of a bridge collapsed after being struck by a barge, with vehicles plunging into the Arkansas river in Oklahoma.

Aug. 28, 2003 - INDIA - At least 25 people, including 23 children, die when a bridge in the western coastal area of Daman collapsed into a muddy river, throwing a school bus and several other vehicles into the swirling waters.

Dec. 2, 2006 - INDIA - Thirty-three people are killed when a 150-year-old bridge, being dismantled, crashed on a train near the Bhagalpur railway station in the state of Bihar.

March 20, 2007 - GUINEA - Sixty-five people are killed after a bridge collapsed under the weight of a truck packed with passengers and merchandise near the remote town of Gueckedou.

Aug. 1, 2007 - UNITED STATES - At least nine people are killed in the rush-hour collapse of a major U.S. interstate bridge over the Mississippi River in the state of Minnesota. Four are still missing.

Aug. 13, 2007 - CHINA - A nearly completed road bridge spanning the Tuo river in Fenghuang county, in the southeastern province of Hunan, collapses, killing 22 people. Thirty-nine are missing.

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