Cargo ship rams Kalurghat Bridge, gets stuck

Initially, authorities do not believe there was too much damage from the incident

A cargo vessel has rammed the Kalurghat Bridge in Chattogram before getting stuck.

The incident involving the ‘MV Samuda-1’ ship occurred on Tuesday afternoon.

The ship was coming from the west side of the bridge around 12:30pm when it hit the structure near its middle, witnesses said.

“We have yet to confirm whether the ship hit the bridge because the wind tore one of the ropes on it or whether it was a mistake by the helmsman,” said Jishan Dutta, a bridge engineer for the Bangladesh Railway’s Eastern Region. “We found no sailors on the ship.”

When the incident was reported, the railway authorities and officials from a contractor company went to the scene to begin assessing repairs.

“Initially, it seems there wasn’t too much damage. Still, we are looking at all aspects,” Jishan said.

The Kalurghat Bridge is one of the main points of connectivity between Chattogram city and parts of the Boalkhali and Patia Upazilas. In addition to road vehicles, trains also use the bridge.

The Kalurghat Bridge 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.