A group of emergency responders successfully intercepted a powerless sand dredger drifting towards a railway viaduct on a flood-swollen river near Beijing last week due to days of heavy rains, averting major disruptions to high-speed train operations in the Chinese capital.
The emergency response was triggered on July 31 as the sand dredger was washed downstream along the rapidly rising Chaobai River before getting stuck underneath a bridge, about four kilometers upstream from the railway bridge.
A coordinated effort was launched by Beijing's emergency services who sent 14 dinghies and 90 firefighters to try to rescue the sand dredger from underneath the bridge.
"The railway viaduct is just 3.8 kilometers away from the bridge. The sand dredger could potentially collide with the railway viaduct in less than 13 minutes if it drifted downstream on the river, which ran at that time at a speed of five meters per second, risking disrupting the operation of high-speed trains," said Liu Xinyuan, commander of the emergency operation.
When strong waves suddenly dislodged the stranded vessel from underneath the bridge, firefighters were forced to intercept it using dinghies in a high-risk operation.
The firefighters rushed downstream and approached the fast-moving sand dredger at a 45-degree angle to avoid a head-on collision, finally bringing it under control and mooring it safely to the riverbank.
"We towed the vessel to the riverside with the dinghies as fast and as steadily as possible," said Liu Xingxing, head of a rescue station who participated in the emergency operation.
By the time the ship was secured, it was only about two kilometers away from the railway viaduct.
Beijing rescuers intercept drifting sand dredger, averting railway bridge collision
