The deadly incident occurred in Tam Duong district’s Son Binh commune at 8:30am on February 24 as a large funeral procession was walking across the bridge, spilling the coffin and about 50 people into a shallow rock stream below.
The walkway collapsed only about one year after it was open to the public, in December 2012.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc cited an initial report that the collapse of the bridge had something to do with resonance and the overload of people crossing it.
He added that two helicopters have transported doctors and nurses from major hospitals in Hanoi to Lai Chau to treat the injured victims of the accident.
Traffic minister Dinh La Thang was present at the scene of the accident on Tuesday evening to work with local authorities to repair the damage.
Vuong Van Thanh, deputy chairman of Lai Chau People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre on Monday that they will carry out a thorough inspection of the collapse and give more traffic instructions at the scene to prevent similar accidents.
Nguyen Hoang Hiep, deputy chairman of the provincial traffic safety board, said the structure of the bridge was designed to hold 1.5 tons, but the people crossing it at the time of the accident doubled its capacity.
“Participants in the funeral procession were aware of the bridge’s capacity, so they were divided in three groups and walked across it one by one. The first group crossed it safely but when the second was walking across it, the bridge suddenly tilted and threw about 40 people into the rocky stream below,” Hiep said.
Phu Chinh Phang, who luckily survived the accident, said, “The funeral procession was carrying the coffin of Trang A Sua, who had died in a road accident, to a burial place nearby. There were 20 people in the first group and more than 40 people in the second who may have caused the bridge to fall after walking for 15 meters.”
Resonance may cause bridge in Lai Chau to collapse Related image(s)
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