The number of people missing on the Dong Nai River has not been determined yet.

• March 20, 2016 21:31

On the afternoon of March 20, Mr. Dang Manh Trung, head of Dong Nai Propaganda Department, chaired a press conference on the collapse of Ghenh bridge.

Hành khách bị kẹt tại ga Biên Hòa chen lấn lên xe trung chuyển để về ga Sài Gòn. Trong đó có nhiều người nước ngoài - Ảnh: Duyên Phan

Passengers stuck at Bien Hoa station jostle to get on a shuttle bus to go to Saigon station. Among them are many foreigners - Photo: Duyen Phan

According to Mr. Trung, the sand barge, from Hiep Hoa to Hoa An commune, crashed into the bridge. As a result, bridge pier No. 2 fell and sank completely into the river. The remaining bridge pier No. 3 touched the water surface. In addition, 3 motorbikes fell into the river.

Two barge captains jumped off the boat, were rescued by local people, and escaped.

So far divers have not found any bodies in the river.

Authorities have fixed the power and water outages at both ends of the bridge and pulled additional telecommunication cables to prevent incidents.

The province is coordinating with the functional agencies of the Ministry of Transport to overcome and avoid further incidents and ensure waterway traffic.

Regarding trains, the railway schedule is very tight. The agencies are handling the number of passengers from Hanoi, transferring to Song Than station. Those from Ho Chi Minh City are transferred to Bien Hoa or Song Than station. In case the Ministry of Transport needs to mobilize vehicles, Dong Nai will also respond.

As for the cargo train, it is very complicated so it will be transported gradually from Long Khanh station to Bien Hoa and Song Than.

Colonel Tran Tuan Trieu, Deputy Director of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police of Dong Nai province, added: The barge carried 800 tons of sand. The Ministry of Transport will preside over the salvage.

Tuoi Tre reporter asked, "People have warned about barges hitting bridge pillars and the bridge used to have a protective belt, but now the belt is not visible. Has Dong Nai province warned the Ministry of Transport yet?

Mr. Trung said the province has notified the Ministry of Transport, but does not understand why it has not been resolved.

Bien Hoa station picks up passengers, Ho Nai and Trang Bom stations pick up goods

Mr. Trinh Tuan Liem, Deputy Director of Dong Nai Province Department of Transport, announced the above information at an inter-agency meeting of the Police, Railways and the Provincial Department of Transport.

According to Mr. Liem, Bien Hoa station is currently showing signs of overload if it receives both passenger and freight trains at the same time. Therefore, the Railway Department will coordinate with the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee to regulate at Bien Hoa, Ho Nai and Trang Bom stations.

At the meeting, the Railway leaders said that by the end of tonight, there are expected to be three more passenger trains from North to South, estimated to carry nearly 1,000 passengers. In the immediate future, the Railway has arranged passenger buses to transfer between Saigon station and Bien Hoa station.

According to records at Bien Hoa station (about 1.5km from Ghenh bridge), many passengers on train SE7 from the North had to land here and were arranged by station staff to board two 45-seat passenger vans returning to Saigon station.

According to the leader of Bien Hoa station, currently this station only receives passengers of train SE7 from the North, at the same time, passengers departing from Saigon station are also arranged by the railway industry on buses to here and then board two trains TN2 and SE22 to the North.

It is known that on the afternoon of March 20, Lieutenant Colonel Huynh Yen Nam, head of the Department of Investigation of Crimes on Social Order (PC45) of Dong Nai Police, signed an order to prosecute the Ghenh Bridge collapse case.

It is not yet known how many people are missing.

* At the scene, at 5:50 p.m., authorities had pulled the barge that had crashed into Ghenh Bridge out of the Ghenh Bridge area, towards Dong Nai Bridge. The locomotive pulling the barge has not yet been recovered.

Initially, the authorities also collected some documents at the scene. The documents stated that the owner of the barge was Ms. NTH, residing on Ho Van Hue Street, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City.

The registration certificate of this inland waterway vehicle states: year of construction is 2007 in Tien Giang, the barge is over 42m long and 12m wide, total tonnage is 980 tons.

The technical safety certificate also bears the owner's name, Ms. NTH, and states that the vehicle was last technically inspected in October 2015 at the Registration Office No. 6.

Speaking to the press at 6 p.m. the same day, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thach, director of the Waterway Port Authority of Region III, said that by late afternoon it was still not possible to determine how many people were missing in the river when the Ghenh Bridge collapsed. For now, traffic will be banned through the accident scene.

Regarding the railway, because Ghenh bridge is the only route of the North-South railway, the repair will take time. The immediate solution must be decided by the Ministry of Transport.