Thousands of vehicles stranded in Ghazni

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): Thousands of vehicles have been stranded over the past three days in Gilan district of southern Ghazni province, officials said on Tuesday.

Long queues of vehicles were stuck on both sides of a bridge that collapsed on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, the district police chief said.

Staff Captain Gul Ahmad told Pajhwok Afghan News they had shared the problem with the governor’s office, police headquarters and the provincial reconstruction team. However, no step has been taken so far to resolve the problem.

More than 4,000 vehicles are stranded in the area, according to a trucker, Allah Noor, who said small cars plying alternative routes through remote villages faced problems due to mud.

They lacked the resources to construct a temporary bridge, said Director of Public Works Mohammad Qurban. He sought assistance from the PRT in reopening the road.

The Mati bridge was blown up by Taliban fighters two years ago. Later, a temporary bridge was built, but that collapsed on Saturday in the wake of heavy floods.

myn