Bridge over Kali river collapses in Karnataka, traffic disrupted

An old bridge across Kali river in Uttara Kannada district collapsed in the small hours of Wednesday, resulting in heavy traffic along national highway 66, connecting Goa to Karnataka. A large portion of the bridge near here caved in at around 1.30 am when a truck was crossing it, leaving the driver of the vehicle injured as he fell into the river, Karwar police said.

According to officials, the bridge was used for Goa-bound traffic after the construction of a new one a decade back. The injured truck driver has been identified as Bala Murugan from Tamil Nadu. The truck en route to Karwar fell into the water, police said, adding the night patrol team alerted the higher police officials.

"Our night patrolling team noticed the collapsed bridge and alerted the control room. There was a truck in the river and the injured driver was on top of the vehicle. The local fishermen along with our team managed to rescue the driver," Superintendent of Police (Karwar) M Narayana said. "He is admitted to Karwar Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital. The truck driver is stated to be stable and is recovering," he said.

Traffic on the new bridge was stopped for some time following the incident. Later, vehicles, except heavy ones, were allowed to pass through, the Karwar police said. Traffic movement on the new bridge was restricted as the Karnataka authorities were checking its stability after the collapse of the old bridge, Goa's Canacona police station in-charge Harish Raut Desai said. An FIR has also been registered in connection with the incident.