A five-year-old girl from Soc Trang Province died in an accident while riding over a makeshift bridge, causing public controversy over a sluggish project worth VND1 billion (USD47,938).

Makeshift bridge that caused death of a child

Lam Thi My Hang, of Long Phu District,Truong Khanh Commune, fell to a canal, causing her death, on December 8. The incident happened while her father was driving over a footbridge with her and her sister, returning from a wedding.

“After the wedding I was driving across the footbridge and lost control. There was no light on the bridge and the surface was unsteady. We all fell off the bridge. I tried to rescue both my daughters, and managed to save Hien, but not her younger sister," he said.

Lam Huong, of Bung Chong Hamlet, said the bridge where such accident happened used to be made of cement. After dredging the canal, however, the bridge has yet to be properly rebuilt.

In order to maintain transportation, the people of the commune have been using this makeshift bridge, constructed with money donated by a local family. Although the bridge had cement foundations, the surface was made of wood, he said.

According to Lam Huong, around 500 motorbikes have fallen off into the canal, but this was the first death.

Despite its state, the bridge continues to serve thousands of vehicles daily, connecting Bung Chong Hamlet with several other villages in the surrounding such as Bung Ca Pot and Bung Ca Dot as well as Long Phu Commune in Long Phu District and Tu Diem Commune in Tran De District.

Thach Thi Thel, a local woman from Bung Chong, said most local residents are Khmer ethnic minority people who are struggling to earn a living. They had expected a new bridge to be built.

Stagnant project

Lam Phuoc Thien, Vice Chairman of Tai Van Communal People’s Committee, told Dantri/DTiNews that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had assigned a unit to carry out a project, worth over VND1 billion, to build a new bridge in Bung Chong Hamlet between 2006 and 2007.

The project was handed over to the Soc Trang provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. They have informed local residents about the project and made site clearance for the construction but work has yet to start.

Quach Van Nam, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said they have completed compiling a dossier for the project and will try to start construction at the soonest possible time.

Locals say around 500 motorbike accidents resulted from shabby bridge

Burning incense to commemorate fatality of a young girl

Bridge still facilitates thousands of vehicles per day

Lam Lel’s family shocked after their daughter's death