Desk Report: An iron bridge on the Tushkhali canal collapsed, disrupting communication on several routes, including those going to Dhaka, reports Daily Star.
An iron bridge at Gudighata village under Mathbaria upazila collapsed in June, 2016 and another iron bridge at Madarshi village in Bhandaria upazila on the same road collapsed in August last year.
The one at Madarshi village was repaired, but the other one was not repaired. Instead, a road was built by blocking the canal at Gudighata village.
Witnesses said a truck carrying an earth-lifter, locally called beku, got on the bridge on the Charkhali-Tushkhali-Mathbaria road in Mathbaria upazila while a three-wheeler got on from the opposite side at the same time.
The bridge collapsed on one side as the truck tried to make room for the three-wheeler, they said. The truck driver, however, managed to flee, they added.
The road connects Pirojpur with Barisal, Khulna, Dhaka, Jessore and Barguna and other places in the district.
“As we have not found the owner of the truck or the driver, we are having trouble removing it from the bridge,” said Md Fakharul Islam, sub-assistant engineer of Pirojpur Roads and Highway Department.
He said the bridge has the capacity of bearing a maximum load of 20 tonnes, but the truck was carrying more weight than that.
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