Insecure pillar 'caused fatal bridge collapse' in Vietnam

A temporary pillar set on an uneven foundation was responsible for the collapse last year of a bridge under construction in southern Vietnam that killed 54 workers, state-controlled media reported today.

The commission set up to investigate the cause of one of the country’s worst accidents determined it was an “unfortunate circumstance” and did not assign blame, the Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper said.

Construction Minister Nguyen Hong Quan, head of the commission, said police are still investigating the possible administrative or criminal liability of people involved in the September 26, 2007, accident.

About 80 people were also injured in the collapse of the 330-foot section of the Can Tho bridge, one of the largest construction projects in Vietnam.

All of the victims were Vietnamese workers helping construct the Japanese-financed bridge, a 1.7-mile span that will link the southern province of Vinh Long to Can Tho, the biggest city in the Mekong Delta.

“The uneven sinking limited to the foundation of a temporary pillar is considered an unfortunate circumstance that is difficult to foresee in normal designing,” the newspaper quoted the commission’s report as saying.