One truck crossed safely. The next one took the entire bridge down with it. On June 23, a 190-foot Bailey bridge in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district collapsed in seconds. The truck went straight into the Sutlej River. The CCTV caught every moment. And what it showed left the entire country speechless.
One Bridge. Eight Years. Gone in Seconds
The bridge was neither new nor poorly built. Authorities constructed it in 2016 as a temporary route after a major landslide damaged the original road in the Urni-Dhak area. For nearly eight years, it helped people travel safely and kept the region connected. So, what caused its collapse? The reason was simple — and it could have been prevented.
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The Real Reason the Bridge Fell
Himachal Pradesh Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi confirmed the cause. An overloaded truck crossed the bridge at night, exceeding its 10-tonne load capacity. "Neither the material nor the engineering of the bridge failed. There was no technical fault," Negi said.
Several important details were overlooked in many reports. The 190-foot Bailey bridge collapsed while a gravel-loaded truck was crossing it. Bailey bridges are temporary structures with strict weight limits, and overloading them can be dangerous. The bridge connected Kaza, Kinnaur, and Lahaul-Spiti, affecting travel across three districts. However, authorities quickly restored the old route, preventing a complete shutdown of traffic on NH-5.
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The Driver Who Should Not Have Survived
The truck driver survived the fall with only minor injuries. Rescue Teams believe the low water level in the Sutlej River helped prevent a major tragedy. If the river had been higher, the accident could have had far more serious consequences.
The Bigger Question Nobody Is Asking
The viral CCTV footage has once again raised concerns about overloaded vehicles on mountain roads in Himachal Pradesh. Authorities have struggled to tackle this problem for years. In this case, a single overloaded truck brought down a bridge that had served the region for nearly eight years. The bridge has collapsed, but a bigger question remains — how many other structures could face a similar risk?
