Hundreds of vehicles trapped along Kawkareik-Myawaddy road after explosion damages bridge

By DMG 21 Dec 2022

Vehicles trapped along the Kawkareik-Myawaddy road. (Photo: CJ)

DMG Newsroom
21 December 2022, Myawaddy, Kayin State

Hundreds of vehicles were trapped along the Asia Highway linking Kawkareik and the border town of Myawaddy in Kayin (Karen) State after a bridge near Taw Naw Natural Waterfall was damaged by an explosion, according to locals and truck drivers.

The bridge near the Taw Naw waterfall, at milepost 5/92 on the Kawkareik-Myawaddy road, was rocked by the explosion on the morning of December 16, and three pillars at the bottom of the bridge were damaged.

“After the bridge was damaged by an explosion, the bottom pillars on the right side of the bridge collapsed, making it impossible for vehicles and passengers to pass,” said a resident of Myawaddy.

Currently, cargo trucks and passenger buses are parked in line near the side of the Asian Highway, according to highway passenger bus lines.

“As only one side of the bridge can be used, vehicles can be conveniently parked on the side of the road, as there is a danger to the lives of passengers if the cars accidentally fall while driving,” said a truck driver plying a route between Myawaddy and Yangon.

Residents said cargo trucks and passenger buses remained stranded as of 8:30 a.m. on December 21, and only a few small cars were traversing the bridge with difficulty.

“As of this morning, passenger buses and cargo trucks cannot pass over the bridge. It looks like the bridge is about to collapse and small cars are taking a risk to pass over the bridge,” said a local traveller.

As of press time, no group had yet claimed responsibility for the apparent bombing of the bridge on the Kawkareik-Myawaddy road.

Also on December 16, a coalition led by Bridge 6 of Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of Karen National Union (KNU), attacked a security checkpoint near the military’s Artillery Regiment Nos. 231 and 230 in Tadarkyoe Village, Kawkareik Township. The fighting lasted for much of the day and hundreds of vehicles were stuck along the Kawkareik-Myawaddy road.