Cairo: The breakneck speed that authorities are demanding builders achieve in completing the new channel along the Suez Canal has resulted in another accident. The military-led government has tried to get construction of the 72 km channel finished in a year, rather than the originally planned five years; safety has become the victim.
A partial collapse occurred at a precipitation basin in the new Suez Canal lane due to an overload of material dredged from the lane under construction, according to a Monday statement by the Suez Canal Authority.
The head of the authority, Mohab Mamish, stressed there were no casualties or injuries.
Two cars and a loader fell into the water, one of which has since been recovered.
The accident comes embarrassingly days after authorities had hailed the speed of construction to date, with news last Thursday that the digging rate after 161 days of work at the new Suez Canal project reached 180m cu m. The army led government continues to demand that the whole project is completed by this August. [19/01/15]
