A Bailey bridge has collapsed under the weight of an overloaded brick-laden truck, completely cutting off road links from Kawkhali to Chattogram and Rangamati. The bridge’s deck broke in the Sahebnagar area of the road a little after 2pm on Saturday (18 July). No casualties were reported.
Rangamati roads division executive engineer Sabuj Chakma confirmed the incident, saying: “Work is under way to move the truck involved. After the truck is removed, the bridge deck will be repaired quickly to try to restore road links.” The Kawkhali-Ranirhat road is the only road link from Kawkhali upazila town to Rangamati district town and Chattogram. Along the roughly eight kilometres of this road from the Chattogram-Rangamati highway to Kawkhali upazila town there are four risky Bailey bridges; long dilapidated and unfit, they are kept barely functional with makeshift repairs. Concrete bridges have been started at two of the four, but work is slow.
On Saturday morning, an overloaded brick-laden truck crossing the Bailey bridge from the Sahebnagar area collapsed with the truck when the deck broke, halting road traffic. People of Kawkhali upazila and part of Rangunia upazila use this road, and it is the only route to take patients from Kawkhali Upazila Health Complex to Rangamati or Chattogram. With the deck broken and the truck stuck, it has been completely closed, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded on both sides and causing severe hardship to travellers. Locals allege that, ignoring administration directives, trucks loaded with 30-35 metric tonnes of timber, bamboo and bricks cross these bridges — rated for 3-5 metric tonnes — every day, causing such accidents for most of the year.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report