Thai-lao Bridge Collapses

[george]

Thai-Lao bridge section collapses; engineer killed

MUKDAHAN: -- A Japanese engineer was killed, eight construction workers went missing, and seven others were injured after a section of the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge collapsed into the Mekong River yesterday, police said.

Hitochi Tanaka, 45, was overseeing the project, and three other Japanese along with one Filipino and four Thais are still unaccounted for, police said.

Lt-Colonel Pairot Chantim, an inspector at Mukdahan Police Station, said witnesses had seen a crane bend under the weight of a five-by-10-metre beam before dropping it onto the bridge.

Heavy rain during the accident hampered rescue operations, police said.

Divers are continuing the search for the missing. Seven injured workers were taken to Mukdahan International Hospital, where one of them is in intensive care.

The Bt2.5-billion bridge is financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, with Thailand and Laos sharing half of the construction cost.

The bridge has two traffic lanes and is 1,600 metres long. Construction started in 2003 and is 90 per cent complete, with the opening scheduled for next year.

--TNA 2005-07-23