The sinking of a makeshift foundation framework was blamed as the main cause of the Can Tho Bridge collapse in the Mekong Delta in September 2007, Minister of Construction Nguyen Hong Quan has announced.
He was speaking at a Government meeting in Ha Noi on July 1-2, where the Prime Minister and other Government leaders listened to the final report the result of the eight-month probe into the disaster by the investigative panel. The report includes almost 100 pages and 10 appendixes of more than 1,000 pages of documents.
The sinking of the makeshift foundation framework for the under construction bridge was the primary reason for the collapse, the report said.
The disaster took place on the September 26, 2007 morning. The foundation framework sank and the support system collapsed, breaking two bridge spans, according to the report.
The report said the sinking of the foundation was an unfortunate situation and hard to project in the design process.
Minister of Construction Quan said his ministry, the Japanese building consortium, and the Japanese consulting contractor have to be responsible for the collapse.
The Japanese building consortium was comprised of Taisei Corp., Kajima Corp. and Nippon Steel Corp.
Further responsibilities, including possible criminal charges, would be taken into account after police investigators announce an official conclusion.
