Man, son die in bridge collapse

truck plunges into river, driver missing

The truck at the collapse site on Sunday. ATelegraph picture Guwahati, Feb 23 : A man and his son died and a stonechip-laden truck fell into the Gelabeel river when a 207-metre-long wooden bridge collapsed this morning. The bodies of the man and his minor son were recovered later. The truck driver and his assistant were yet to be traced. The truck was on its way from Bokakhat. Rubi Bori, 23, who was walking on the bridge was flung into the river. She was rescued and undergoing treatment at Golaghat Civil Hospital. The bridge connects Bonkowl and Mohramukh in the Bokakhat subdivision of Golaghat district. Sub-divisional officer (civil), Bokakhat, Mridul Mahanta, said that Nepali Pegu, 40, and his son Paresh, 8, were coming from Bonkowl riding a bicycle when the bridge gave way around 8.30am. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered.  Mahanta said the probe would be conducted by executive magistrate Dulal Debnath.  He said the bridge, built in 1961, had become weak over the years and probably buckled under the weight of the truck which was carrying stonechips for the construction of an RCC bridge alongside the wooden one.  He said the bridge was located on the road from Kamargaon to Mohramukh, nearly 25km from Bokakhat and about 300km from Guwahati. The official said some temporary measures were being undertaken to keep communication line over the river open as far as possible. “We will be trying to repair the bridge and put it back in the next few days, but till then people will have to cross the river by boat,” Mahanta said.  The bridge caved in on its northern (Bonkowl) end close to the bank of the river. Mahanta said cranes were brought in to pull the truck out of the river.  “There is no trace of the driver and his assistant if there was any,” he said adding that fishing nets were also being used to search for bodies. “It is also possible that they have survived.”  He said though it was dry season now, the possibility of the bodies being washed away could not be ruled out.  Ranjan Pegu of Bonkowl was about to get on to the bridge with his bicycle when the bridge collapsed.  “It was just about a few metres away from where I was at that time... there was a loud noise and before I could realise what was happening, I saw the truck plunging into the river below,” he said.  He said many lives were saved because the accident happened around 8.30am.  “On Sundays, people in large numbers cross the bridge to go to the several weekly markets in the area... in another half an hour or so there would have been more people on the bridge,” he said.