Kalimpong: Hanging Bridge Collapsed, 2 People Died, 5 Injured

The collapse happened when they were crossing the fragile bridge, which went almost upside down after tearing off ropes to a side, eye witnesses said.

Kalimpong

2 people dead, 5 seriously injured after a 32 years old bridge collapsed at Mungpel  Village in Kalimpong in west Bengal on Sunday.

The mishap happened at Papritang as the victims were brought to the Kalimpong district hospital at around 2100 hours where Tek Bahadur Subba (52) and Aitazar  Raj Rai (23) were declared brought dead. Among the injured Nawang Subba was taken to the Siliguri hospital after his condition deteriorated.

The collapse happened when they were crossing the fragile bridge, which went almost upside down after tearing off ropes to a side, eye witnesses said.

The walkway bridges are common in the Himalayan terrains where these connect the people between the villages, separated with streams coming from the upper region of mountains.

However, these traditional hanging bridges, made of woods, wires and ropes, are susceptible to collapse under weight or heavy rains and storms due to poor maintenance, said an aged villager. He said due to poor maintenance by the local authorities, the villagers of their own keep walkway bridges in order to have connectivity or face disconnected from the world.

The incident took place when the locals of the village came together to repair the bridge, as they had done the previous year too, following the deplorable condition of the bridge and the negligence of the authorities. One of the suspention wires of the bridge suddenly broke, and the bridge turned down a side, leading to the deaths and injuries.