A bridge at a Nusa Penida port collapsed yesterday and caused dozens of tourists to fall into the water. Thankfully, there were no casualties from the incident.
Local news outlets reported that the incident took place yesterday at around 4:45pm at the Banjar Nyuh Seaport. Klungkung Police spokesman Agus Widiono said that travelers were queuing to get into a tongkang that was scheduled to take them to the Sanur port.
Unfortunately, the bridge that connects the dock to the speedboats collapsed, allegedly due to overcapacity, and at least 35 tourists – most of them foreigners – fell into the ocean.
Agus added that a few tourists suffered minor injuries due to the incident, while many of them, while panicked, managed to save themselves.
A video of locals trying to help the victims by throwing floatees went viral yesterday.
Nusa Penida’s Search and Rescue Agency Head Putu Cakra Negara confirmed that there were no casualties caused by the incident.
The new port was launched on Dec. 5. Klungkung Regent I Nyoman Suwirta said that he has called upon the port authorities to learn from the incident and ensure that there will be no more overloading of bridges caused by passengers queuing in the future to prevent it from happening again.
