VietNamNet Bridge – At the scene of the bridge collapse that killed 8 and injured 38 others in Lai Chau Province on February 25, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang decided to establish an independent working group including leading experts to investigate the case.

The collapsed bridge.

According to the latest news, one more victim died at hospital yesterday, February 25.

Initial evaluation results showed that the cables withstood 7.9 tons of load and the load of the bridge was relatively large. However the anchor structure was not guaranteed, which might be the cause of the broken anchor screws.

The local government has decided to build a temporary bridge 30 m far from the collapsed bridge.

Yesterday, February 25, two planes carried nearly 30 doctors and nurses of the Bach Mai and Vietnam-Germany Hospitals from Hanoi to Lai Chau to save 38 injured victims.

According to the Department of Health of Lai Chau province, there are 31 seriously injured victims, including more than 20 patients with multiple traumas such as broken liver, broken kidney, broken spleen, broken femur fracture and broken skull. At least three people are in critical condition.

The Lai Chau General Hospital conducted 12 operations on victims with serious liver, kidney, spleen and gut injuries. Some suffering brain injuries are waiting for further assistance from central-level hospitals.

The accident occurred at around 8am on February 24 in Son Binh commune, Tam Duong district while a funeral procession with about 40 people was crossing from the village of Chu Va 8 towards Chu Va 6.

According to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Chuong, the bridge became overloaded, causing cables to break and sending the victims plummeting into the rocky streams below.

The 54-meter-long bridge was opened in December 2012 with a capacity of supporting loads up to 1.5 tons.

Mai Lan