Czech company claims that it did not err during the construction of the collapsed bridge in Slovakia

Bratislava/Praha - The Czech construction company Bögl & Krýsl did not find any of its own faults in the construction of the highway bridge in eastern Slovakia, but it does not renounce moral responsibility. This was stated today by the company's director, Josef Krýsl, in a press release sent to ČTK. The construction of the bridge collapsed at the beginning of November during the concreting, and the tragedy claimed the lives of four workers.
    "Under no circumstances do we renounce moral responsibility for the loss of life or injuries," Krýsl stated. He added that the construction company conducted an inspection of the implementation documentation and its activities on the construction site, but did not detect any of its own professional faults.
    The Czech company, along with other companies involved in the construction, is currently paying the families of the victims financial compensation amounting to the monthly salaries of the workers. This assistance is expected to last until the end of the year. The companies also committed to present a proposal for financial support for the families of the victims to Slovak Minister of Transport Ján Počiatok by the end of the week, with Bögl & Krýsl doing so on Friday.
    The company Bögl & Krýsl is responsible for the construction of five bridges on the Jánovce-Jablonov section of the D1 highway. Four of them are being built by the company itself, while the fifth one at Kuriman, where the tragedy occurred, is being provided as a subcontractor by the Slovak company Semos, which ordered the collapsed supports from another supplier.
    It is suspected that one possible cause of the tragedy could be an incorrect static calculation of the supporting arches, or a failure of construction supervision. According to unofficial information, the investigation is expected to last until the end of the year, with results potentially being known in the spring of next year, wrote the portal Pravda.sk
    Today, at the site of the tragedy, bomb disposal experts detonated the dangerous parts of the unfinished bridge on the second attempt, so that the construction workers could continue their work. A similar attempt failed on Tuesday when the charge did not take down the support.
    Bögl & Krýsl is also facing problems in the Czech Republic, where it is one of five participants in legal proceedings related to the collapse of a bridge in Studénka in 2008. Eight people died in that incident, and dozens were injured.