MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 19: Two local relief workers drowned when an improvised bridge across a river collapsed on Wednesday in quake-ravaged Azad Kashmir, a private relief group said.

A third volunteer fell into the raging Neelum river but was saved by other aid workers transporting goods in a motorboat, the group said.

The rescued man sustained serious injuries, Yahya Mujahid, spokesman for Jamaat-ul Dawa group told AFP from Muzaffarabad. The bridge linked Muzaffarabad and the village of Dhani Mai Sahiba.

Several thousand volunteers from private charities, especially Islamic groups, have joined the aid effort after the October 8 quake alongside the army and international relief workers.

—AFP