KOCHI: A barge ferrying sulfur to FACT rammed into a column of Kaniampuzha railway bridge in the early hours on Saturday and got trapped, forcing the Railway officials to impose speed restriction in the Ernakulam-Kottayam route. Consequently, many trains passing through this stretch got considerably delayed.
The barge hit the base of a column which remained submerged as the crew tried to maneuver under the railway bridge and got stuck there.
Efforts continued on Saturday night to free the barge. The officials hope that the attempts would be successful during high tide as earlier efforts to extricate the barge using other vessels failed.
In the wake of the accident, a speed restriction of 30 km per hour on trains in the route were imposed by the Railway officials. According to officials the trains were delayed over 10 minutes during peak hours.
Senior officials of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), FACT officials and officials of the company that operates the ferry service inspected the site. The railway officials would assess the damage to the bridge after the barge was disengaged from the bridge.