At least two dead and 15 injured after collapse of a vehicular bridge in Colombia

Two people died, and 15 more were injured after the collapse of the La Vieja river bridge that connects the departments of Quindio and Valle del Cauca in central Colombia, local authorities reported Wednesday afternoon.

The governor of the department of Quindio, Jairo Jaramillo, confirmed from the accident scene that the people who lost their lives in the incident were two members of the National Police.

“The official report is as follows: there is a total collapse of the bridge that communicates Quindío with Valle del Cauca; two police trucks, two tractor-trailers, and a private vehicle were involved. We regret the loss of two people, a police intendant and a patrolman”, said Jaramillo.

The president assured that the causes of the bridge collapse have not yet been determined and an investigation will be initiated to clarify the situation but ruled out the possibility that it was a terrorist attack.

“We are at this moment finishing the evacuation of the vehicles, the cargo of the vehicles (…) at this moment we already have the operation to divert the heavy load vehicles”, commented Jaramillo, who assured that on Thursday, the Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Reyes, will visit the place of the accident.

For his part, William Camargo, president of the National Infrastructure Association (ANI), commented through a video broadcast on social networks that the collapse was due to a “sudden failure” and recalled that the bridge was built in 1984.

However, he stressed that in the last review of this structure three months ago, no failure that represented a risk of falling was reported.

“At this moment, military authorities, Police, Ministry of Transportation, ANI, concessionaire, interventoría and departmental authorities are attending to the emergency,” he said.

Hospitals in the area are attending to the injured while authorities ask drivers to find alternate routes to reach their destinations in both departments.

“We are keeping an eye on the area under high alert conditions, and we have the authorities diverting traffic; we recommend using alternate routes, following the recommendations of the Police, and being aware of the detours being made in the area”, concluded Camargo.