Nature is cruel to Bhutan
Bhutan is undergoing an experience to loose in citizens in series of accidents in the last few days, either to natural hazards or not.
Three people- a man, his wife, and their seven-year old child, have been killed in an accident at Bunagu on the Thimphu-Phuentsholing highway on Saturday when the car they were travelling skidded off the road and smashed 500m below. The dead bodies were recovered only the next morning.
The Thimphu-Phuentsholing highway is very risky for travel during monsoon season. The hairpin bends, foggy mountains and slippery surfaces are all hazards making this prime highway the men-eater.
A day before, an 18-year-old boy (eighth grade student of Sonathang middle Secondary School) has been killed at Kaktong in Zhamgang when a falling boulder hit him. His sister, who was with him, escape injured is undergoing treatment at a local health unit. The area is landslide prone.
Yet in another accident on the same day, a man has been killed when the swelling river washed away by the river at Samdinkha in Punakha. Search for three other missing is still continuing.
The bridge was under construction and the men were laying metal sheets on the bridge at around 11 in the morning. They were using excavator as well which increased the load on under-construction bridge. The excavator operator and one of the workers have been rescued.
Similarly, landslide has blocked the Gelephu-Zhemgang highway. A stretch of over half kilometre has been washed away making it impossible for transportation between the two cities for another several months. Transportation to Trongsa and Bumthang has also been disrupted.