Six people including three Chinese workers have been injured after a girder in the construction site for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project collapsed in Dhaka’s Airport Road.
The incident took place in front of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 10am on Sunday.
The injured Chinese workers were rushed to the Evercare Hospital in Bashundhara Residential Area and others to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
“Out of the three Chinese workers, one was in critical condition. He underwent surgery and is now out of danger. The two others received minor injuries. They are still admitted at the hospital,” said BRT Project Director ASM Illias Hossain.
“Among three Bangladeshi workers, two were released after treatment,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
How did the incident happen?
According to the project officials, fire service men and witnesses, around 20 workers, engineers, foreman, and supervisors were working to install a girder when the accident happened.
Aftermath of the girder collapse on Dhaka’s Airport Road which left four workers injured on Sunday, March 14, 2021 Mehedi Hasan/ Dhaka Tribune
The BRT project director said the workers were installing the girder between two pillars at the project’s airport segment since morning. The structure collapsed when the girder fell on it, injuring the workers.
“The launching girder was being operated on a supporting structure which was actually broken. So when the supporting structure gave in, the girder collapsed,” he added.
Probe committee
Meanwhile, a seven-member probe committee was formed to investigate the incident.
Shafiqul Islam, managing director of Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company Limited (DBRTCL) said the probe body led by Anisur Rahman, joint secretary of the Road Transport and Highway Division, was asked to submit its report within seven working days.
The committee will have representatives from the division, project and consultants, he added.
Pier cap of BRT project collapse in Abdullahpur
In a separate incident, a pier cap of the BRT project collapsed in front of the Abdullahpur Convention hall in Dhaka.
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Bangladesh Bridge Division Chief Engineer Quazi Muhammad Ferdous confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
He said: “It was an under construction pier cap. It was hit by a truck earlier.”
The authorities are still looking for the truck driver who allegedly hit the pier cap.
BRT project
The Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) are implementing the country’s first BRT project under four packages
Two Chinese contractors under the RHD were implementing one of the packages where the girder collapsed.
The project is being implemented to ease traffic movement between Gazipur and the airport, within the latest deadline of completion by June 2022. However, only 36% of the work was completed until June last year.
The 20km-long project is being executed under Tk42.68 billion Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport Project (GDSUTP-BRT Gazipur-Airport) since 2012.
