8 dead, 30 injured as bridge breaks in Vietnam

February 25, 2014 | 09:23

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Eight people were killed and 30 others sustained serious injuries after a suspension bridge on Feb. 24 collapsed in the northern province of Lai Chau.

Vang A Ho, chairman of the Son Binh People's Committee, told Tuoi Tre that a group of people on Monday morning participated into a large funeral procession of a local senior official, who had died in a road accident.

The deadly incident occurred in Son Binh commune in Tam Duong district at some 8:30am as the procession was walking across the bridge. The coffin and many people fell into a rocky stream below.

It is believed that the bridge collapsed because of the large number of people crossing it.

Most of the victims were adults hailing from Chu Va 8 and Chu Va 6 hamlets in Son Binh.

The injured people are being treated at local hospitals. A local police officer is among the injured.

Local authorities have announced a financial aid of VND6.4 million (US$320) for the families of the dead and VND3.2 million ($160) for the injured.

The broken suspension bridge, which is 54m long and 9 m high, was open to the public in December, 2012.

Tuoi Tre

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