DRESDEN: A bridge partially collapsed within the japanese German metropolis of Dresden early on Wednesday (Sep 11), with authorities saying nobody was injured however that there was a danger of additional sections crumbling.
A roughly 100m part of the Carola Bridge, which connects Dresden’s historic previous city to different components of town, plunged into the Elbe river round 3am (9am, Singapore time), the Dresden hearth brigade mentioned.
The bridge and the encompassing space have been sealed off, inflicting main disruption to interior metropolis site visitors.
Officers warned that different components of the bridge might but come crashing down.
“There may be nonetheless an acute hazard to life and danger of collapse,” hearth brigade spokesman Michael Klahre mentioned.
No person was on or underneath the bridge on the time of the incident.
The final tram had crossed the bridge at round 2.50am (8.50, Singapore time), mere minutes earlier than the collapse and narrowly avoiding disaster.
“I’m very, very completely satisfied that primarily based on what we all know, nobody was damage,” Klahre mentioned at a press convention alongside different officers.
Police spokesman Thomas Geithner mentioned officers who occurred to be stationed simply 50 metres away “described listening to a loud, heavy noise, the bottom shook”.
Rescue companies and different consultants had been deployed on the scene to evaluate the harm and safe the bridge.
The reason for the collapse remains to be being investigated.
The concrete construction might have suffered from corrosion brought on by chloride contamination previously, Holger Kalbe, head of the bridges and civil engineering constructions division for town of Dresden, instructed reporters.
However he added that this was only a first “assumption” and consultants would have extra certainty on what occurred within the coming days.
