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BANGLA EPAPER 📍 Dhaka 📅 Tuesday | 21 July 2026, 6 Srabon 1433

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Four including child escape as flash flood sweeps away 50-metre bridge in Sherpur

Published : Monday, 20 July, 2026 at 11:50 PM

Observer Online Report

A 50-metre-long steel bridge was swept away by powerful flash floodwaters in Sherpur's Nalitabari upazila on Monday while four people, including a child, were crossing it. All four managed to swim to safety after the bridge slowly collapsed into the swollen river.

The incident occurred around noon in South Sannashivita Nayapara village under Baghber Union, where the bridge spans the Chellakhali River.

According to local sources, heavy rainfall in India's Meghalaya state triggered a surge of flash floodwaters in the Chellakhali River from Monday morning. The water level rose to 324 centimetres above the danger mark, overtopping embankments in several places and breaching others, leading to flooding in surrounding areas.

As the fast-flowing water struck the underside of the bridge, the structure gradually bent in the middle before collapsing into the river with a loud noise. At the time, four people, including a child, were crossing the bridge. As it slowly submerged, they were carried into the water but managed to swim safely to the riverbank.

A bystander captured the dramatic incident on a mobile phone, and the video has since gone viral on social media.

Locals said the bridge had been built under a special allocation by a former Member of Parliament to improve communication in the area. An earlier steel bridge at the same location had also been washed away by flash floods several years ago. The current bridge, rebuilt around 2020, became locally known as the "Mother's Bridge."

The collapse has left residents on the western bank of South Sannashivita Nayapara facing severe hardship, with students, farmers, and local residents struggling to travel across the river.

Nalitabari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Abdul Malek said officials from the Department of Disaster Management had been sent to the site after receiving the report. He added that necessary steps would be taken to repair or reconstruct the bridge once the floodwaters recede.

-MS/HIS

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Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury

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