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Published : 03 May 2024, 12:19 AM
Bangladesh Railway has claimed that a cargo ship has caused a Tk 5 million damage to the under-renovation Kalurghat Bridge in Chattogram with a collision.
The railway authority filed a case on Wednesday at Government Railway Police’s Chattogram Station, reporting the extent of the damage.
Three people, including the ship's master and steersman, were arrested in connection with the incident on Thursday, according to Ekram Ullah, the chief of Sadarghat River Police Station.
The arrestees are MV Samuda-1 quartermaster Ferdous Rahman, steersman Yamin Molla, and greaser Shahadat Hossain.
Ekram told bdnews24.com that as the Kalurghat Bridge is a railway bridge, the case has been filed at the GRP police station. Since the lower part of the bridge is over the river, the river police will investigate the case.
The cargo vessel MV Samuda-1 rammed the Kalurghat Bridge in Chattogram before getting stuck on Tuesday.
According to the case filed by Limon Majumder, a senior deputy assistant engineer at the Railway Bridges Division, the empty vessel struck the 9th and 10th spans of the under-renovation bridge around 1pm.
"The under-slang girders, walkways, and railings of spans 9 and 10 of the bridge were damaged. The estimated loss is Tk 5 million.”
After the accident, the 66.65-meter-long and 11-meter-wide vessel was seized by river police, said Ekram.
The bridge is one of the main points of connectivity between Chattogram city and parts of the Boalkhali and Patia Upazilas. In addition to vehicles, trains also use the bridge.
It was closed for renovations on Aug 1 last year ahead of the launch of a Cox’s Bazar rail route.
On Nov 5, the Cox’s Bazar rail route was launched. Railways Minister Zillul Hakim said afterwards that the bridge could be opened to traffic around March once repairs were complete.
