Trivial collision causes 5-hour congestion on major bridge in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
Saturday, December 24, 2022, 12:00 GMT+7
The Rach Mieu Bridge, which lies along a major route connecting Ho Chi Minh City and provinces in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, was heavily congested on Friday afternoon following a minor collision.
Located along National Highway 60, Rach Mieu stretches 2.86 kilometers over the Tien (Front) River to connect My Tho City in Tien Giang Province and Chau Thanh District in Ben Tre Province.
A crash occurred on the bridge at around 12:00 pm on Friday, with no casulties reported.
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| Thousands of vehicles lie immobile on National Highway 60 in Ben Tre Province due to a serious traffic jam on the Rach Mieu Bridge in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region, December 23, 2022. Photo: Mau Truong / Tuoi Tre |
Functional forces quickly handled the incident, but traffic piled up during the meantime and a vehicle suddenly stalled, causing a prolonged traffic jam until 5:30 pm, according to Tran Thi Kim Uyen, director of the BOT Rach Mieu Bridge Co. Ltd.
High delivery demand for agricultural products from the Mekong Delta region to other localities in the year-end season also fueled the surge in traffic on Friday, according to a patrol worker of the company.
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| Thousands of vehicles lie immobile on National Highway 60 in Ben Tre Province due to a serious traffic jam on the Rach Mieu Bridge in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region, December 23, 2022. Photo: Mau Truong / Tuoi Tre |
The serious congestion stretched from Ben Tre Province to Tien Giang Province, with thousands of vehicles immobile on National Highway 60.
Traffic got more and more chaotic when a number of passenger vans and trucks encroached on the motorbike lane.
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| Traffic police forces block traffic from Tien Giang Province to Ben Tre Province to prioritize vehicles on the opposite direction so as to ease a serious traffic jam on the Rach Mieu Bridge in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region, December 23, 2022. Photo: Mau Truong / Tuoi Tre |
The BOT Rach Mieu Bridge Co. Ltd stopped collecting tolls at its tollgate leading to the bridge at 4:30 pm on the same day as per the local traffic police’s order to ease the inundation.
In addition, traffic police forces in both Tien Giang and Ben Tre coordinated to block traffic from Tien Giang to Ben Tre to prioritize vehicles on the opposite direction.
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| The Rach Mieu Bridge is turned into a one-way route to ease a serious traffic jam on December 23, 2022. Photo: Mau Truong / Tuoi Tre |
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