Graft ‘At Play’ In Collapse of Giant Bridge

Corruption may have led to the collapse last month of a 2,200-foot suspension bridge in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Farouk Arnaz of the Jakarta Globe said graft is ‘at play’ in the disaster. The National Police, he said, will ‘investigate the technical specifications of the bridge and then investigate possible corruption.’

Twenty-two people were confirmed to have died. Thirty seven were injured and 14 are still missing. Ten cars and 15 motorcycles sank in the water below, the Jakarta Globe said.

“Corruption investigators have been sent to the site,” a source with the National Police told the Jakarta Globe. “We predict irregularities in the case because the bridge was still young and was built with funding from several sources, including the regional budget.”

The bridge, shown above before it failed, opened in 2002.