Three people were rescued from a river Tuesday after a flood in Jiangyou, Sichuan Province, caused a bridge on the Panjiang River to collapse, although there may be many other victims as yet unaccounted for, amid conflicting reports as to how many vehicles fell in.

"Panjiang Bridge gave way at 11:30 am due to a flood peak. Three vehicles and several people fell into the river. By midday, three people were rescued and sent to hospital. They are all safe," Yang Yanming, an official of Jiangyou government, told the Global Times, adding that the number of people who fell in has not been established.

About 2,000 rescuers have been mobilized to search for other potential victims.

Yang admitted that the continuing bad weather would hamper the rescue, but said that they would make every effort to save people's lives.

The area around Jiangyou, northeast of provincial capital Chengdu, has been battered by heavy storms since Sunday, with the heaviest rainfall reaching 91.4 millimeters per hour. At the time of the bridge collapse, the flood peak was some 7,000 cubic meters per second, according to the local government of Youjiang Tuesday.

Eyewitnesses to the collapse said there could be many more victims than the official tally.

Zhang Jiuchun, who witnessed the collapse, told the Global Times Tuesday that he believes there will be many more victims recovered from the swollen river, alleging he saw a bus fall from the bridge.

"The storm has been so heavy these days that the old town of Beichuan, upstream of us, is completely submerged," said Zhang. The town was destroyed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

However, Yang said their investigation showed no bus had fallen off.

The bridge, built in 1969, was recently strengthened following the 2008 earthquake and was only put into use on July 4 for vehicles under 10 tons, as another bridge was closed for repairs.

Some locals questioned why a newly strengthened bridge could collapse so easily. 

"The flood is definitely the main cause of the accident. But there will be a more thorough investigation," said Yang.

Heavy storms have hit several places across Sichuan, causing mass evacuations and economic losses.

The Sichuan provincial government said by 8 pm Tuesday, this latest rainstorm had killed  two people and left another nine missing, adding that 727,000 people in 39 counties of nine cities and prefectures had been affected.

The government in nearby Mianzhu evacuated 1,165 local residents to safer ground on Monday, and the same day there were mudslides in Dujiangyan, west of Chengdu.

"Storms will continue in many places across Sichuan, but they will pass after Friday," an official, who declined to be named, from the Meteorological Administration of Sichuan Province, said Tuesday.