Bridge collapses in Vietnam, at least 60 dead

A general view of the collapse of the Can Tho bridge under construction in Vietnam's southern province of Vinh Long, on 26 September. At least 14 people died Wednesday morning following the collapse of the bridge. (AFP)

Wed Sep 26, 2007

HANOI (Reuters) - A bridge under construction collapsed in southern Vietnam on Wednesday, killing at least 60 workers, and 100 others were missing, a contractor and police said.

State-run Vietnam TV showed footage of the damage to the collapsed concrete and steel structure in Can Tho City and reported that people were still trapped in the rubble.

A contractor with China State Construction Engineering Corp, one of the firms involved in the construction of the bridge, said by telephone that 60 people were dead.

"They are still pulling out bodies from the rubble, I could hear the screams," the contractor said from Can Tho, which is 170 km (105 miles) south of the commercial centre of Ho Chi Minh City.

Police said there were about 100 workers directly under the section of the bridge over the Hau river where the scaffolding collapsed at about 08:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) at the start of a shift. About 150 workers were on the bridge surface, a Can Tho police officer said.

"The figures of victims are still being updated but as many as 100 could be dead or missing for now," the officer said by telephone.

The cause of the collapse on a section of the 2.75 km (1.7 miles) long bridge was not immediately known, but Vietnam TV reported that rains may have softened the foundation.

The bridge was being built at a cost of $300 million to be finished next year.

Most of the workers were Vietnamese but the contractor said that less than 10 Filipinos and Japanese workers were unaccounted for.

Officials in Can Tho said about 250 engineers and workers from three Japanese contractors -- Taisei Corp, Kazima and Nippon Steel Corp -- were on the construction site at the time of the accident.

Hau river is one of the nine tributaries of the Mekong river when it enters southern Vietnam from Cambodia. Rice traders said barge traffic would not be affected by the accident.

The online VnExpress (www.vnexpress.net) newspaper quoted officials in Can Tho as saying the scaffolding collapsed.

"We heard a loud explosion and then a big cloud of dust and screams from workers stuck in the rubble," the state-run newspaper quoted a bridge engineer at the site as saying.

Over Three Hundred Protests As Vietnam Says No to Land Claims

Posted at Khmer Krom Network

Thursday 19 April, 2007- Incoming reports direct from Kampuchea-Krom minutes ago have has revealed that over three hundred protestors are currently conducting a peaceful protest against Vietnam in Sway Tong, Prek Reussey (renamed Can Tho) province, Vietnam. Listen to RFA coverage of this event in Khmer.

False promises by Vietnamese authorities to resolve land issues have sparked anger and yet another massive protest as hundreds of Khmer Krom people head to Prek Reussey.

According to the source, attempts by protestors to travel to Can Tho by cars and buses were effectively halted by Vietnamese police.

Forced into yet the same predicament as the previous protest on 8 February 2007, the Khmer Krom people have once again marched bare footed to Can Tho determined to resolve the land confiscation issues.

One of the victims of the land confiscation is Mr. Chau Son and wife is Neang Yea from An Cu Commune, Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province.

Mr. Chau Son has attempt numerous times to reclaim his land after being confiscated by Vietnamese authorities during the 1970s by filing the complaints but have been repeated rejected.

According to another victim, Mr. Chau Inh, Vietnamese authorities had threatened to take action if he continued to pursue his claims.

Unfortunately for Mr. Chau Inh, the threat came in the form of a suspicious accident that sent his nine year old daughter into hospital after being involved in a hit and run.

Mr. Chau Inh believes it was a local authority figure that initated the accident.

The previous protest conducted by the Khmer Krom people last February was temporary solved after Vietnamese authorities promised to solve the matter after Vietnamese New Year.

Two months later, the Vietnamese authorities announced that they will not be returning any of the confiscated land back to the indigenous owners of the Mekong Delta.

The announcements have sparked anger and frustration as Khmer Krom people young and old once again march to find justice in a society dominated by one way party policies.

KKN will keep you updated as events unfold.