SerpApi.Org
Greek drivers are ignoring warnings and crossing a collapsed bridge instead of taking a 11-mile detour.
The Palaiopyrgos Bridge in Larissa, central Greece, was severely damaged in a storm, leaving the central section hanging precariously over the Pineios River.
Storm Daniel tore through Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey in September 2023, with 79 bridges in north-central Greece alone damaged in the flooding.
Almost three years on, drivers are still running the gauntlet over the buckled bridge despite repeated warnings that they should take an alternative route.
The bridge was declared out of service, with its midpoint sagging within only a few inches above the water.
But some farmers and commuters use it instead of taking a 11-mile detour on the national highway because it is the only direct route to neighbouring villages and farmland. Satellite navigation services still direct drivers across the bridge.
No further injuries have been reported since the storm that damaged the bridge, but local officials have called for the government to either repair the structure or fully enforce its closure.
Drone footage released this week showed cars inching over the broken sections in a daring manoeuvre.
Pressure to carry out delayed restoration projects across the region is mounting.
Kyriakos Velopoulos, a member of the Hellenic Parliament, said in a note to the infrastructure and transport minister that “in a new Daniel-type storm... the bridge will act as a dam for the water heading towards the sea, resulting in it overflowing from the riverbeds and flooding the village”.
