On the afternoon of September 16, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Quang - Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department of Quang Tri Provincial Police said that the units had completed the salvage of all machinery and equipment of the barge that capsized and was trapped under the O Lau River.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Quang, salvage work was deployed from the morning of September 16. By about 10-12 am on the same day, all machinery, anchors and related equipment of the barge had been brought out of the water surface, clearing obstacles on the waterway.
Previously, at 2 pm on September 13, heavy rain caused the O Lau River water to rise, sweeping away 3 sand dredging barges of a business anchored upstream and then stuck in the area of pier T2 of My Chanh railway bridge and one barge stuck close to the pier of My Chanh bridge on National Highway 1, potentially affecting the safety of the bridge and traffic through the area.
According to Road Management Zone II, at the time of the incident, sand dredging vehicles drifted and were trapped in the My Chanh bridge area, with the risk of damaging the bridge structure and road traffic safety. This unit has requested relevant forces to coordinate in monitoring, handling, and moving vehicles out of the affected area.
On the afternoon of September 15, after the barges were moved out of the bridge foot area, the forces continued to deploy a plan to recover submerged equipment, avoiding affecting waterway traffic activities.
From the above incident, the Traffic Police Department of Quang Tri Provincial Police will strengthen propaganda, requesting businesses and people to raise awareness of waterway vehicle management, especially during the rainy and storm season.
In the rainy and storm season, people and businesses must have effective vehicle management plans, because the diễn biến of rain and floods is very unpredictable. Anchoring must be carried out firmly, it is impossible to anchor temporarily in bamboo bushes or unsafe locations" - Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Quang said.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Quang, many waterway vehicles are currently managed by businesses themselves, not anchored in port areas with solid anchoring systems according to standards.
In some places, businesses self-built concrete columns on the ground to anchor, but when heavy floods occur, the ground can be eroded, reducing the ability to hold vehicles. Therefore, vehicle owners need to have a plan to anchor solidly or bring vehicles ashore when there are heavy rains and floods" - Senior Lieutenant Colonel Quang said.
In the coming time, the Traffic Police Department of Quang Tri Provincial Police will develop a plan to propagate and guide waterway vehicle owners to implement safety measures, limiting the situation of ships being swept away by floods and colliding with traffic works.
Regarding the bridge inspection after the incident, Road Management Office II. 5 said that the unit has coordinated to inspect the affected bridge area. During the inspection, divers were mobilized to review the possibility of collisions and impacts of vehicles on the bridge structure, but fortunately no unusual signs were detected.
