It was intended to be a happy camping trip. A total of 294 students from different primary schools excitedly crossed the suspension bridge after having supper to return to the camping site. All in a sudden, the bridge collapsed and 22 students fell into the rushing river. As a result, 19 students were saved, one drown and two missing.

After the tragedy, an angry parent punched a teacher while some anxious parents burst into tears and severely scolded the teachers.

Everybody felt the same, it was understandable that the parents were frustrated and anxious. But really, the teachers should not be blamed entirely.

On the contrary, teachers who risked their safety to rescue the students should be praised.

The incentive camp was organised by the Kinta Selatan District Education Department and it should be the one to take the greatest responsibility if there was any omission.

First of all, they did not consider well security issues of the camp site location.

There was a rushing river and 44 people were killed in a nearby flash flood tragedy 13 years ago. It did not seem like an appropriate location for any primary student's collective activity.

Perhaps, it was exiting and fun to allow children to cross the suspension bridge but it was as well very dangerous indeed.

In fact, there was a warning sign painted in red: “Warning: Take your own responsibility for any accident”, didn't the organiser see it? Did they prepare in advance how to respond to any accident?

We cannot blame the teachers too much for not stopping the students from jumping and playing on the bridge as restlessness has always been a child's nature. As for allowing too many students to cross the bridge at the same time, it is worth a review whether it was a negligence caused by the lack of sense of crisis.

In fact, no one knew how many people's weight could the bridge bear at one time. The warning sign just stressed on “take your own responsibility” without indicating the maximum load-bearing capacity. It did not clearly state how many people should be allowed on the bridge at one time. Undoubtedly, it was a huge mistake and the authorities could not escape the blame.

It is said that there were about 30 people crossing the bridge when the accident happened. Isn't it a bit unbelievable that a newly completed suspension bridge was not able to sustain even the weight of 30 primary students?

Although everything is still too early to be commented, as a metal pillar and its concrete block foundation have got ripped off the ground and caused a tragedy, it showed an indisputable fact that something was wrong with the suspension bridge's structure.

Further investigation must be carried out to find out whether it was an accident or a man-made calamity. What was the cause of the incident? Did they pile driving for the piers? Did the pier depth reach professional standards? Was the geology suitable for pier construction?

More importantly, whether jerry-building was involved here? Whether corruption was involved, too?

Apologise if there should be an apology, step down if it is necessary and punish those who should be punished. In this case, the District Education Department, construction contractor, bridge's management authority, state government and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should give the public a clear explanation! (By LIM MUN FAH/Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/Sin Chew Daily)