Nine arrested over Chinese bridge collapse
Nine people have been arrested and three officials removed from their posts, after a viaduct collapsed in central China’s Hunan Province, killing nine people and injuring 16 others.
About 200 metres of the viaduct, supported by eight columns, collapsed on Sunday 17 May on Hongqi road in downtown Zhuzhou city. The bridge, which spans the busy Hongqi Square, was closed for demolition on 5 May. Contractors had already blasted part of the viaduct and planned to demolish the collapsed section last week.
The Xinhua News Agency has reported that the suspects include Gao Yubin, general manager of the Nanling Civil explosion company, and Fu Xingui, a deputy general manager. Cheng Ji’ang, head of the labour contractor, and his workers Cheng Jihui, Li Shulin, Zhang Yibing, Zhou Tao along with supervisors Yu Zhuo and Deng Wenhui have also been arrested.
Cheng Ji’ang won the bid for the job of demolishing the viaduct from Gao on 27 April. Cheng is under investigation for being unqualified to do the work, said Chen Jing, a spokesman with the Zhuzhou government, at a press conference last Wednesday.
On 15 May, Cheng, under the command of Fu Xingui, conducted a trial demolition of the viaduct which ended up cracking the bridge, Chen said.
On 17 May, when the viaduct collapsed, workers were drilling holes in supporting pillars but failed to block traffic, he added.
That is just some of what a preliminary investigation discovered. Xinhua expects more information regarding the arrests. The official cause of the collapse is due to be released this week.
Meanwhile, three officials, Shen Ping, head of the Zhuzhou construction bureau, Zeng Jianhua, chief engineer of the bureau, and Ding Wei, who was in charge of the viaduct project, have been removed from their posts.
The 2,750m long Hongqi Road Viaduct, built in 1995, was the city’s first viaduct. The remaining sections of the viaduct were finally demolished yesterday.
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