Srinagar, Aug 11 (IANS): As many as 18 people, including four policemen, were injured as a wooden footbridge over a stream collapsed here Saturday, police said.

Police here said a group of people had blocked the road at Ashai Bagh area on the city outskirts, demanding improvement of the roads in their locality adjacent to the main road.

When a group of local people accompanied by the magistrate and the station house officer (SHO) of the police station concerned were crossing a wooden footbridge between Bhat Mohalla and Ashraf Mohalla, the bridge collapsed sending 13 civilians, the official and four policemen into the stream, a police officer said.

"All the persons have been safely rescued. While two of the rescued people have been referred to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Soura (SKIMS) for specialised treatment, the rest, according to attending doctors, have been treated for minor injuries," a police official said.