The Bailey bridge over the Khiru River at Trishal Upazila on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway broke down, unable to bear the load of a lorry carrying an electric transformer weighing about 120 tonnes. The weight of the electrical transformer was 80 tonnes. Meanwhile, the lorry and a private car fell down along with the bridge. Four people were injured in this incident.
The accident took place at Chelerghat area of Dhaka-Mymensingh highway around 6 pm on Wednesday.
Soon after the incident, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ruhul Amin Madani MP, Divisional Commissioner of Mymensingh Shafiqur Reza Biswas, Executive Engineer of Roads Department of Mymensingh Khairul Bashar Mohammad Saddam Hossain visited the place. Senior officials were present at the time. A Bailey Bridge expert from Dhaka will visit the broken bridge on Thursday, said Roads and Highway Executive Engineer.
Officer-in-charge of Trishal police station Main Uddin confirmed the truth of the incident and said that a 42-wheeler lorry was going to Jamalpur with a transformer on the steel bridge on two lanes of the four-lane road from Dhaka to Mymensingh. Meanwhile, when the lorry carrying the transformer got on the bridge, the bridge collapsed. Meanwhile, a private car was on the bridge and it also fell down.
Eyewitnesses said that after the collapse of the iron bridge, traffic towards Mymensingh was stopped, later with the help of Upazila Nirbahi Officer Jewel Ahmed, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Hasan Abdullah Al Mahmud, Officer-in-charge of Trishal Police Station Main Uddin and In-charge of Trishal Fire Service Abul Kalam, traffic flowed in two lanes. Abul Kalam, in-charge of Trishal Fire Service, said that the bridge collapsed when the lorry went over the iron bridge. Meanwhile, a private car with the lorry fell into the Khiru river. Five people in the private car were rescued by the locals.
Jannatul Ferdous, medical officer of Trishal Upazila Health Complex, said that four injured people were brought to Trishal Upazila Health Complex and three others were sent to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for better treatment. Another is receiving treatment here.
Officer-in-charge of Trishal police station Main Uddin said that the police station is working hard to resolve the traffic jam along with the rescue operations. The police are also keeping an eye on this opportunity so that no untoward incident happens.
Jewel Ahmed, Executive Officer of Trishal Upazila, said that while the lorry carrying the transformer was going from Dhaka to Jamalpur, while crossing the Bailey Bridge, the lorry went into the middle of the bridge and the bridge broke and fell into the river. However, the lorry driver went missing after the accident. On the other hand, four of the five passengers in the private car were injured. One of the two roads has been completely closed due to the collapse of the bridge. Another road is open. We are making efforts to ensure normal traffic flow.
Soon after the incident, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Member of Parliament Maulana Ruhul Amin Madani, Mymensingh Divisional Commissioner Shafiqur Reza Biswas visited the spot. Senior officials were present at the time.
It is to be noted that the Bailey Bridge was built on the Khiru River in 1990 at a place called Cheleghat in Trishal Upazila on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. Two lanes of the four-lane highway passed through the Bailey Bridge. A new bridge has been constructed for the other two lanes.