Seven men, non-Bhutanese, are feared drowned after a bridge collapsed in Duenchhukha Gewog in Samtse yesterday. The incident also claimed a worker’s life and critically injured another.
Officials at the site and eyewitnesses say it was around 12:45 p.m. when the cable suspender holding the metal structure of the bridge collapsed and plunged into Amochhu. Seven other workers, who were at the construction site during the time of the incident, escaped unhurt.
The launching works, which involves connecting the two sides of the bridge, was ongoing when the incident happened. The works began last month and was expected to be complete yesterday. Once complete, the 128-metre bailey suspension bridge would have connected Duenchhukha with Dophuchen (Dorokha) Gewog.
Our reporter in Samtse, Sonam Phuntsho, says, the bridge was supposed to serve as the lifeline for around 400 households of Duenchhukha since it connects the gewog with the rest of the dzongkhag. But now, in absence of a motor vehicle bridge, the villagers will have to continue managing with the existing pedestrian suspension bridge. It takes more than an hour to use that route.
The construction of the bridge began in 2012 but missed its initial deadline of 16 months. The Bhutanese contractor who was awarded the work took about 27 months to complete the first component of the construction. The remaining works were then contracted out to the current contractor, an Indian engineering company based in Kolkata.
Meanwhile, as the search and rescue operations for those missing continue, the critically injured worker has been referred to Siliguri.
