At least 3 killed as overpass collapses
At least 3 killed as overpass collapses
JAKARTA (JP): A semi-constructed, 500-ton overpass in West Jakarta collapsed yesterday morning killing at least three laborers and injuring 17 others.
The death toll is expected to rise as people are still believed to be buried in the rubble.
The rescue team used four giant cranes to move wreckage in the hunt for victims. However, the project developers said that bigger cranes would be required to remove all the debris.
Five construction workers were badly injured and are still being treated at the nearby Sumber Waras hospital.
The victims, along with about 20 other workers, were dismantling the stagers of the overpass when it collapsed.
One of the project laborers said that the overpass started to cave in at 8 a.m. when workers started dismantling the scaffolding. It collapsed 20 minutes later.
Another worker, who was injured and taken to hospital, told The Jakarta Post that he survived because he saw cracks on several parts of the overpass.
"I chose to work on the outer side of the overpass because there were some cracks in the construction and the workers did not dare to tell the Korean supervisor because he is always angry with us," said the worker, who asked not to be identified.
The overpass is the entrance way to the Grogol-Pluit toll road and it is being built by South Korean Han Bo General Contractor and a local company PT Bumi Karya.
Neither partner was prepared to comment on the accident.
Technical mistake
Meanwhile, the director general of road development at the public works ministry, Soeharsono Martakim, confirmed technical and human errors were behind the accident.
Soeharsono said the premature removal of the overpass's stagers was a big mistake because the concrete was not hard enough. According to the schedule they should have been removed on March 26.
He added his office would investigate who ordered the workers to dismantle the stagers and would not hesitate to take firm action against the person(s) responsible, regardless of his or their position(s) in the project.
Jakarta's Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs TB. M. Rais said at the accident site that all parties in the project should be held responsible for the mishap.
The local police said they have questioned at least 12 eyewitnesses, most of whom are construction workers on the project.
"We'll soon question those directly involved in this project, such as the developers, project managers and consultants," West Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Hari Pribadi said.
Soeharsono said the incident will not disrupt the Grogol-Pluit toll road which is expected to be completed before the Air Show in the compound of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport next June.
Construction work on the 250-meter overpass started in May last year and it was expected to be fully completed in May this year. The total cost of the project is Rp 11 billion.
Two versions
The police version of events said the overpass caved in when around 20 workers tried to put bars under it to temporarily protect the buckled overpass.
However, the overpass broke down just as the workers started to put in the bars.
Another version said the overpass collapsed due to the failure of the developers to install the temporary bars under the overpass at the scheduled time.
"I think that the second version is more possible," Hikima from the Tokyo-based PCI & Yec, one of the consultant firms for the project, told the Post. (bsr/anr/yns/sur)
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