BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Three foreign workers have died following an accident on the construction site of the Temburong Bridge project, the Ministry of Development (MinDev) announced on Monday.

The accident occurred on Sunday at one of the bridge towers. The nature of the accident was not disclosed.

In a statement, the development ministry said all construction work at the tower site has been halted pending an investigation into the incident:

The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Officers from the Labour Department, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Energy, Manpower and Industry, together with the project team comprising the Ministry of Development, consultants and contractors are jointly carrying out investigations at the site.

The safety of the site workers and supervisory personnel is of paramount importance to the government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam. The project team will continuously review the risk assessment and ensure that contractors comply with all the safety requirements as specified in the contract. 

Spanning 30 kilometres, the $1.6 billion bridge — which once completed in 2019 will be the longest in Southeast Asia — will connect the Brunei mainland with the Temburong district.

According to the construction industry average, Brunei recorded 2.0 work-related fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2016, down from 4.5 per 100,000 in 2015.

In the United Kingdom, the rate stood at 0.48 per 100,000 workers.

According to the Ministry of Development, the two most common types of accidents recorded in Brunei are “falls from height” and being “struck by falling object”.