Ten hurt as famous bridge collapses
TEN people were injured yesterday, three of them seriously, when the "country's longest bamboo bridge" partially collapsed in Mae Hong Son's Muang district.
The bridge, called Su Tong Pae or “fulfilled prayer”, in Tambon Pang Moo, buckled under the weight of more than 500 people as they were offering “Devorohana” alms marking the end of the Buddhist Lent.
Permwittaya Kantasong, chief of Mae Hong Son Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said people had gathered at the famous bridge to offer alms to 29 monks when the accident occurred. The 500-metre bridge across the Mae Sa Nga River, which links the Phusama Buddhist Meditation Park and Ban Kung Mai Sak, collapsed at 7.30am with 500 people on it.
The weight of so many people reportedly snapped the cables, pulling down the main pillars, and resulting in the bridge almost hitting the river, he added.
Two monks and eight laypersons were injured. One victim, 37-year-old Bangkok tourist Chatrit Jiranyapreuk, sustained brain injuries and had to be airlifted to the better-equipped Nakhonping Hospital in Chiang Mai province.
A source said the section of the bridge that collapsed had previously been damaged by flash floods and reopened for use in the middle of this month after repairs. The bridge is being inspected.
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