THIS is the dramatic moment a car crossed a river, using a buckled bridge in Greece to save 20 minutes on their commute.
Footage shows the vehicle on the out-of-service link – its midpoint only a few inches above Pineios River in central Greece.
A car drives over a buckling bridge damaged by storms rather than taking a detour Credit: YouTube/Larissanet
The collapsed bridge shown 10 days after Storm Daniel, on September 14, 2023 Credit: AFP
Three years after Storm Daniel tore through the country, as well as Turkey and Bulgaria, Palaiopyrgos Bridge in Larissa remains heavily damaged.
The bridge once linked coastal communities in the municipalities of Agia and Tempe, but its collapse has disrupted local travel.
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While considered unsafe, drivers continue to take the risk to avoid taking another, 19-mile longer route using the national highway.
Yiannis Beritzas, the president of the Paleopyrgos village, said the bridge has cut off direct routes to Mount Kissavos.
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“What should we do? Should we go all the way around?” one local told Skai.
“Where should we go? Nothing can be done. We play with death every day.”
The situation becomes even more dangerous when the level of the Pinios River rises and the waters pass over the crumbled bridge.
The Palaiopyrgos Bridge is among the infrastructure that has not been repaired yet.
Firemen evacuate an elderly woman from her partially flooded house, as the Pinios river overflowed Credit: Reuters
People look at a building damaged due to the impact of Storm Daniel, near a nursing home in the city of Volos, Greece Credit: Reuters
Although the contract for the construction of a new bridge has already been signed by a well-known construction group, the project has not yet started.
“All traffic is at risk,” said the president of the Paleopyrgos Agricultural Cooperative, Thanos Hatzizogidis.
“Let’s not find ourselves running behind the events again. Large and loaded vehicles are passing by, while there is not even the necessary traffic lights.”
The catastrophic floods caused by the storm in 2023 resulted in around $2.14 billion worth of damage.
In Greece, 17 people died because of the storm, which at the time was described as a “biblical catastrophe”.
Five people were also killed in Turkey during the floods, while at least two victims were found in Bulgaria.
