Road collapses after container truck breaks water pipeline

HÀ NỘI — A container truck hit a section of a Sông Đuống Surface Water Plant pipeline in Gia Lâm District, Hà Nội in the early hours of on Monday.

The truck, which was transporting concrete beams for a nearby construction site, was passing under an overpass when the ground collapsed beneath it.

The water plant said it was forced to cut water supplies for a few hours to patch up the broken pipes. Water supplies would be reduced for the next several days until the damage was completely fixed, said the water plant’s deputy director Đặng Hữu Tuấn.

Residents in affected areas including parts of Hai Bà Trưng, Đống Đa and Thanh Xuân districts would experience low water pressure, he said.

A representative from Hà Nội's Traffic Department said the collapsed section of the road was quite large, measuring four metres wide and five metres long. He said the structure of the road had been weakened due to heavy and frequent downpours.

The truck was examined and the department’s conclusion was that it was not overloaded when the incident took place.

After a week of fair weather, the scorching summer heat is to make a return to the capital. This is also a time when many residents suffer water shortages. Higher demand, depleted underground water sources and aging infrastructure have been cited by the city’s water companies as main causes to the shortages. — Khánh