Bridge collapses in Dresden in the middle of the night without causing any casualties

A terrible noise, but no casualties. The partial collapse of a bridge spanning the Elbe surprised the city of Dresden, in eastern Germany, in the middle of the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, September 11. A section of about 100 meters of the Carola Bridge, one of the main axes connecting the old city to the rest of the former city of the kings of Saxony, plunged into the river, taking the tram tracks with it.

The police described “a big thud” occurred shortly after 3 a.m. “The ground shook”local police spokesman Thomas Geithner told reporters. No one was on or under the bridge at the time of the incident.

The last tram had crossed the bridge at around 2:50 a.m., shortly before the collapse, narrowly avoiding a tragedy, authorities said. The images show the central part of the structure lying in the water, a few dozen meters below. In addition to the tram lines, the path dedicated to pedestrian traffic also collapsed. The partial collapse of the bridge also damaged two heating pipes, causing hot water cuts in the city of more than 550,000 inhabitants.

An investigation is underway into the cause of the incident, but the possibility of sabotage has been ruled out at this stage, police said. The concrete structure may have suffered from corrosion caused by chloride contamination, according to Holger Kalbe, head of the city’s bridges and engineering structures department.