In the early hours of this Monday (20/02) of Carnival, the city of Torres RS and Passo de Torres SC receive the news that the wire bridge – Suspension bridge - breaks over the mampituba river that connects the two municipalities.
According to information from people who were on the bridge at the time of the event, more people than the permitted limit were on the bridge. Initially the allowed limit on the bridge is 20 people, and the possibility is that there were more than 70 people there at the time.
The reason for this excess of people at the same time is that in the city of Passo de Torres the carnival was taking place, the same is true in the square and which is next to the bridge.
The incident took place around 2:50 in the morning, and from that moment on, firefighters, SAMU and the military brigade from both states (RS and SC) went to the location and are looking for possible missing persons.
The actual information so far is that at least 30 people have been rescued and some have been referred for care. According to victims' reports, those who knew how to swim managed to access the boats that were anchored on the riverbank, and threw life jackets and buoys to people who were still in the water.
Suspension Bridge Torres RS and Passo de Torres SC
The Pêncil Bridge was initially the main form of pedestrian crossing between the neighboring municipalities, because many people work or live between the two municipalities and daily need to go from one side to the other.
The capacity of people to cross the bridge is 20 people maximum. However, according to information from the people who were there, there were 3 to 4 times that number.
Currently there is a concrete bridge over which it is possible to cross by car.