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Vietnam
arrests 2 after vessel strikes southern bridge, severs rail link
Police in the southern province of
Dong Nai on Monday arrested the driver of a barge and his assistant for
running the vessel into a century-old rail bridge, causing a large section to
fall into the river below.
The disaster on Sunday almost sent three motorbikes
off the Ghenh Bridge, but no casualties were reported.
It
however severed the major north-south rail link, spreading chaos across the
nation's inadequate transport network.
Police confirmed pilot Tran Van Giang, 36, was
arrested at around 7:15 a.m. along with Nguyen Van Le, 28, who assisted him,
while the duo was hiding in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang.
The
duo was then transferred to Dong Nai for investigation.
At
around 11:35 a.m. on Sunday, Giang was driving the barge carrying 600 tons of
sand up the Dong Nai River.
When
the barge was passing under the Ghenh Bridge in Bien Hoa City, it struck a
concrete pylon and sent two spans of the bridge, which is also used by
motorbikes, into the water.
Three
motorbike riders were rescued after their bikes almost fell off the bridge.
The
barge capsized. Giang and Le managed to jump out and swam to safety before
fleeing the scene.
Rail link
The
bridge collapse immediately paralyzed the traffic of the north-south rail
service that connects Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. There is no alternative
route.
On
Sunday evening, all trains from the Saigon Railway Station were delayed
indefinitely.
All
southbound trains from Hanoi had to stop at Dong Nai’s Bien Hoa Railway
Station and passengers were taken to HCMC by bus.
Meanwhile,
passengers from the Saigon Railway Station were taken by bus to Dong Nai for
their northward journey.
The
situation caused messy scenes at both stations.
On
Sunday evening, deputy transport minister Nguyen Hong Truong came to the
crash site and ordered authorities to pull the broken spans of the bridge and
the sunken barge out of the site.
He
said the transport ministry would discuss to decide whether a new bridge
would be built or the Ghenh Bridge would be fixed.
"It
would take at least three months for the bridge to be fixed," he said.
He
also ordered the Dong Nai authorities to quickly investigate the
collision.
    
2011 fatal collision
The
223-meter Ghenh Bridge across the Dong Nai River was built by the French in
1909. It has a track for trains in the middle with narrow lanes on both sides
for motorbikes.
On
February 6, 2011, a collision between a train and six cars occurred on the
bridge, killing two and injuring 22 others.
On
that day four employees of the state-owned Saigon Railways were in charge of
regulating traffic on the bridge. However, they failed to prevent the cars
from driving on the bridge even though the northbound train kept signaling
its arrival.
Six
cars, including a taxi, which had entered the bridge despite the railway
staff's warning, were stuck on the bridge when the train approached.
In
an attempt to clear the traffic congestion, a railway worker asked the taxi
driver, who was near the end of the line of cars, to move.
However,
the taxi driver refused and argued with the railway worker, instead.
By
the time he moved, the train arrived and smashed into the other cars.
The
Saigon Railways employees were then sentenced to between three years and five
and half years for dereliction of duty.
Taxi
driver Tran Minh Chau received a jail term of seven years for charges of
"obstructing rail traffic."
After
the fatal collision, the government ordered Dong Nai to build another bridge
near the Ghenh Bridge for cars and motorbikes to travel on.
It
was planned that the Ghenh Bridge would serve trains only.
In
April 2013, the Buu Hoa Bridge opened to traffic, to both motorbike and cars.
Cars
were not allowed to travel on the Ghenh Bridge, but Dong Nai authorities then
secured the government's approval to allow one-way traffic for motorbikes
only.
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Thứ Hai, 21 tháng 3, 2016
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