Collapse Accident Also Occurred in April Last Year
No Report of Casualties Yet
Several piers of a large bridge being built over a 3 km length in India, costing 270 billion won, have collapsed.
According to Indian media such as the Times of India on the 5th (local time), part of the large bridge under construction over the Ganges River in Bagalpur, Bihar state, northern India, suddenly collapsed the previous afternoon. The bridge construction involved 17.1 billion rupees (270 billion won), and the total length reaches 3.16 km. It has four lanes.
A part of the large bridge under construction over the Ganges River collapsing. [Image source=Captured from amitmalviya's Twitter]
One pier of the bridge fell and sank into the water along with the deck, and several adjacent piers tilted, causing multiple decks to collapse simultaneously.
The Times of India, citing sources, reported that several 30-meter-high piers numbered 9, 10, and 11, along with dozens of decks, collapsed due to this accident. However, no casualties have been reported from this incident.
Originally, the bridge construction began in February 2014 and was scheduled to be completed by March 2020, but it was delayed due to various accidents. In April last year, a collapse accident also occurred, with more than three piers falling, and claims arose that the accident was due to poor construction quality.
Following the accident, Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, ordered the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, identify those responsible, and take strong measures. Meanwhile, the opposition party in Bihar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), criticized the state government, saying, "Corruption is rampant in the Nitish Kumar government."
Such accidents have been repeatedly occurring in India involving bridges and railways. Earlier, on the 2nd, a triple train collision accident occurred in Odisha state in eastern India, called "the worst disaster in 21st-century India," resulting in 275 deaths and over 1,100 injuries.
Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the accident, and there are claims that a major accident occurred due to a signaling error, where one passenger train entered another track.
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