All train services to and from HCMC have been disrupted since the Ghenh Bridge in Dong Nai province collapsed at noon on March 20 after it was hit by a barge transporting 800 tons of sand.
All train services to and from HCMC have been disrupted since the Ghenh Bridge in Dong Nai province collapsed at noon on March 20 after it was hit by a barge transporting 800 tons of sand.
The collision sent two spans of the old French-built steel bridge sinking into the Dong Nai River and a third span tilting to the water surface, while the barge capsized. Witnesses of the accident said three motorcyclists fell into the river while traveling on the bridge but survived.
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| A view of the Ghenh Bridge collapse |
Rescue motorboats and divers were dispatched to the scene to search for victims immediately after the accident happened but found no one, according to a meeting between representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the railway sector and relevant agencies last night. Two steersmen of the barge managed to jump out of the sinking barge and then rescued by local residents, but they got away after they were brought to the river bank.
HCMC authorities sent around 30 professional divers to the neighboring province to help search for possible missing people. They were trying to find anyone trapped in the overturned barge.
The barge had drifted 70 meters towards the Dong Nai Bridge as of 6 p.m. on March 20. Relevant agencies said no one was reported missing in the river but divers were continuing searching the area near the river bank.
However, a freight train en route from HCMC to the north would have fallen into the river if it had not been stopped in time.
As the bridge is part of the north-south rail line, all train services to and from HCMC ground to a halt. Therefore, passengers traveling from the north and the central region had to get off the trains at Bien Hoa Railway Station in Dong Nai and then got on coaches arranged by the railway operator to travel to HCMC.
In the opposite direction, passengers traveled by road from HCMC to Bien Hoa to continue their journey by train to the central and northern provinces.
The ministry said the accident would affect thousands of passengers this morning as at least six passenger and two cargo trains would run on the north-south railway in the period.
A working delegation led by Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong and leaders of Vietnam Railways Corporation arrived in the province on March 20 afternoon to discuss solutions for the problem, including building a temporary bridge.
At the meeting, Dong told the railway sector to hurriedly complete a plan to resume normal train services on the route and local transport agencies to secure safe traffic on the river.
Tran Tuan Trieu, deputy head of the province’s firefighting and rescue department, said that the ministry plans to salvage the barge at ebb tide.
The ministry said the accident has seriously affected traffic on the north-south railway. It is expected that the railway sector will announce new schedules for passenger and cargo trains, with Bien Hoa picked as the final station for passenger trains of the route in the south and Bien Hoa, Ho Nai and Long Khanh as the final stations for cargo trains.
The Ghenh Bridge, which connects the two shores divided by the Dong Nai River, was built by the French in the 1900s. It plays a crucial role in the operation of the railway network of Vietnam, linking southern provinces and cities, including HCMC, to the rest of the country.
(Source:SGT)
