Search for missing victims of Phong Chau bridge collapse ends

Accordingly, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Tho province agreed with the proposal of the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue, which is also the Steering Committee for Civil Defense of the province, on ending the search for missing victims due to the collapse of Phong Chau bridge.

The People's Committee of Phu Tho province assigned the Department of Transport to preside over and coordinate with relevant units to organize the dismantling and salvage of the remaining part of the N7 bridge; dismantling and salvage of the N6 bridge and the submerged vehicles in the river to the assembly location as soon as possible, ensuring absolute safety. At the same time, closely coordinate with Brigade 249 (Engineering Corps), Lam Thao district and Tam Nong district to maintain the operation of the pontoon bridge and Phong Chau ferry.

The People's Committees of Lam Thao and Tam Nong districts closely coordinate with the 249th Engineer Brigade to ensure security and safety of the pontoon bridge and Phong Chau ferry area; ensure conditions for the 249th Engineer Brigade to help the province continue to ensure the pontoon bridge and ferry to serve people's travel, ensuring absolute safety.

Previously, the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue, which is also the Provincial Civil Defense Steering Committee, issued a document requesting to end the search for missing victims at Phong Chau Bridge for the following reasons: The Phong Chau Bridge area has a large amount of mud, sand, and trash, fast-flowing water, limited visibility due to turbid river water, and a lot of alluvium, making the search for missing people difficult and ineffective.

The collapse of Phong Chau bridge at Km18+300 National Highway 32C (connecting Tam Nong and Lam Thao districts) occurred at around 10:00 a.m. on September 9, sweeping away pillar T7 and 2 main spans (spans 6 and 7 on the right bank of Thao river, in Tam Nong district). Initial preliminary determination was that at the time of the incident, there were 10 vehicles moving on the bridge (including 1 truck, 2 tractor-trailers, 6 motorbikes, 1 electric motorbike); 8 people were missing (of which 4 victims have been found). The remaining victims have not been found.