Uttarakhand: Bailey bridge collapses near Indo-China border

The truck driver and the JCB machine operator were injured as the 40-ft-long bridge, built in 2009, crashed on Monday under the combined weight of the truck and the JCB machine  

Pithorgarh: A bailey bridge in Pithorgarh district of Uttarakhand, nearly 50 km from the Sino-India border, collapsed when a truck carrying a JCB machine was crossing it, an official said on Tuesday (June 23).

The truck driver and the JCB machine operator were injured as the 40-feet-long bridge, built in 2009, crashed on Monday under the combined weight of the truck and the JCB machine, SDM of Munsyari AK Shukla said. 

The weight-bearing capacity of the bridge was 18 tonne while the combined weight of the JCB machine and the truck was 26 tonnes, he said. The SDM said the truck driver and the JCB machine operator have been admitted to a hospital in Munsyari.

Around 15 border villages of Johar Valley have been cut off. Legal action will be taken against the truck driver, the official said. Construction of another bridge will take at least 15 days, the SDM said.