Jakarta, The Musi Banyuasin (Muba) Regency Government will investigate the collapse of the Lalan Bridge in Lalan District, Musi Banyuasin, South Sumatra. The investigation will be conducted with related agencies, including law enforcement officials.

"We will investigate first, after the investigation is out we will hold the bridge construction company accountable," said Muba Regional Secretary Apriyadi when confirmed, Tuesday (13/8/2024).

The Muba Regency Government has instructed the agencies under it to the location today for an investigation. It is hoped that within this week the results of the investigation will be available.

"We will invite all parties, including the company that hit the bridge and other companies that use the Lalan River route to jointly help repair it," he said.

He is targeting Thursday (15/8) to have a meeting with the related parties. Including other companies that use the Lalan River route for their business transport activities.

"We will not rebuild the bridge yet, we will first investigate and gather related companies. We ask them (the company that hit) to repair it. The information is that the colliding barge has been secured, but we don't know the name of the company," he explained.

From the information he got, the Lalan Bridge was hit by a coal barge, causing it to collapse in the middle. He said there were two bridge bulkheads that collapsed.

In addition, his party has also requested a team to search for missing victims due to the barge collision.

"When the barge crashed and the bridge collapsed, there were community activities on the bridge. Some were fishing from the bridge and others. There were no vehicles passing by, only community activities," he said.

He said that the bridge worth Rp 135 billion was built with the Muba regional budget. The bridge was inaugurated by Regent Pahri Azhari. Since its operation, the bridge has been hit several times and repairs have been made.

"But the collision that occurred this time was quite hard, because it hit a coal barge with a load ranging from 8 thousand to 10 thousand tonnes, so it collapsed," he said.

Sources : www.detik.com Aug 13.24