The collapse of a bridge in northern Brazil left four dead and 13 people remained missing on Tuesday, according to a new report from the authorities, who also fear serious environmental damage in the face of the risk of sulfuric acid pollution of the river adjoining.
At the time of the disaster, on Sunday, eight vehicles were crossing the Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira bridge, the main connecting route between the states of Maranhao (north-east) and Tocantins (north). Among these vehicles, three heavy goods vehicles “carried 22,000 liters of pesticides and 76 tonnes of sulfuric acid, a corrosive chemical”, according to the National Water Agency (ANA).
Water analyzes are underway to assess the level of pollution in the Tocantins River. Authorities have still not established whether the acid spilled outside the trucks. This possibility makes the search for the missing more complicated. They continue on board boats from the surface, the use of divers being prohibited as long as the risk linked to the acid has not been eliminated.
Causes of collapse unknown
“Four bodies were recovered,” Tocantins firefighters said at midday on Tuesday. Authorities identified among the victims the driver of the truck carrying acid and an eleven-year-old girl. A 36-year-old man was rescued alive on Sunday.
The causes of the collapse are still unknown, although initial information available to the National Department of Transport Infrastructure shows that the central beam of the bridge collapsed.
The day before the tragedy, a resident of the area had published a video on the internet in which he denounced a « danger » imminent, showing visible cracks in the structure of this 500 meter long bridge built in the 1960s.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised Monday on “all help from the federal government” pour “victim relief and investigation” on the course of the accident.
