Ctg flyover girder collapses
A concrete girder of an under-construction flyover collapsed on the road below at Bahaddarhat area in Chittagong yesterday afternoon slightly injuring a rickshaw-puller.
The concrete girder, 42 metres long and two-and-a half metres tall, fell near Bahaddarhat Ek Kilometre Intersection around 1:30pm.
The injured rickshaw puller was given first aid, said Babul Chandra Banik, officer-in-charge of Chandgaon Police Station. Vehicular movement on the road was hampered due to the girder collapse, said the OC, adding that traffic had to be diverted.
Sources said it was a lucky coincidence the girder collapsed in the weekend during the prayer time of the Muslims and when there were very few people on the road.
The Chittagong Development Authority was constructing the flyover at a cost of Tk 106 crore. The construction work of the four-lane flyover began in December, 2010. The length of the flyover is 1,331.60 metres and it is 14 metres wide, said sources in the Chittagong Development Authority.
The Chief Engineer of Chittagong Development Authority Nasir Uddin told The Daily Star that the reasons of the accident was not clear but it could have happened due to a mild earthquake, vibration created by heavy vehicles plying or any other instability of the construction site.
Tariqul Newaz Kabir, an official of Chittagong Met Office, however, said there had been no information of any tremors in Chittagong at that time.
Nasir Uddin said a two-member probe body, led by Project Director Habibur Rahman, had been formed to look into the incident. The committee is expected to turn in a report in 24 hours, he added.
The Chittagong Development Authority would remove the girder from the road immediately, Nasir Uddin said.
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