Bike Path, Heralded as Olympic Legacy, Collapses in Brazil
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RIO DE JANEIRO — A new elevated bike path that was heralded as a legacy project of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics collapsed on Thursday, killing at least two people.

The accident on the Tim Maia bike path was the latest in a series of problems that are troubling preparations for the August games, including worries about an outbreak of the Zika virus, political turmoil that threatens to topple President Dilma Rousseff, underwhelming ticket sales and budget cuts amid Brazil’s worst recession in decades.

Pedro Paulo Carvalho, the city’s municipal secretary, said a third person was thought to be missing after a giant wave apparently swept up a rocky cliff, lifted an approximately 150-foot stretch of the bike path and sent it plunging onto the rocks and sea below.

The city’s fire department confirmed two deaths. The local news media said two other people were rescued alive.

Joao Ricardo Tinoco identified one of the victims as his brother-in-law, Eduardo Marinho Albuquerque, 54, who he said was jogging at the time of the accident.

Mr. Carvalho said it was too early to tell what had caused the accident and said an investigation was underway.

Shoddy construction is a consistent problem in Brazil, where graft is a fixture of many construction projects.

“It’s clear that an accident like this is unpardonable,” Mr. Carvalho told the Globo television network.

The entire 2.5-mile bike path, which links the fashionable beachfront neighborhoods of São Conrado and Leblon, is now closed.

The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, who was in Greece for the lighting of the Olympic torch, was quoted in a statement as also calling the accident “unpardonable.” He said that he was flying back to the city to follow the investigations into its causes.

When the structure was inaugurated, Mr. Paes hailed it as “the most beautiful bike path in the world.”

The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported that the company that built the bike path, Concremat, is owned by the family of the municipal public works secretary, Antonio Paulo Viegas Figueira de Mello.

A spokeswoman for the company declined to provide any details about the bike path and could not say whether the company was involved in any other Olympic projects.

“The priorities at the moment are to ensure treatment of the victims and their families and evaluate the causes of the accident,” the company said in a statement.

The bike path is perched high above the water on concrete and metal pillars set into a rocky cliff. Inaugurated on Jan. 17, the $12.5 million project was initially heralded as one of the most successful Olympic legacy projects, earning praise for its spectacular views. But soon detractors began to complain that the structure was already showing signs of deterioration and that the narrowness of the path made cyclists easy prey for muggers.

才用4個月…偷工減料？巴西自行車道崩塌2死

砸1260萬美元 興建在峭壁上

巴西里約熱內盧一段新建的高架自行車道21日發生部分坍塌意外，掉入大西洋中，目前已知造成至少兩人死亡；雖然塌陷原因還在調查當中，但已為即將在8月開幕的夏季奧運投下陰影，外界憂慮巴西是否真的準備好了。

這條沿著海濱高速公路蜿蜒前行的自行車道斥資1260萬美元（約4億台幣）興建，今年元月才盛大啟用，是市府為迎接奧運替市民新蓋的運動設施，以鋼筋混凝土支撐在峭壁之上，被視為具有奧運遺產意義。

騎士落海失蹤 死亡人數恐增

坍塌意外發生後，兩具男性屍體由海中撈起，官方未公布姓名。潛水人員還在繼續在尋找可能失蹤的第三人。

市長辦公室官員卡瓦何拒絕回答工程偷工減料是否為意外主因的問題。他說，50公尺的路段崩塌前有「強浪來襲，第一個可能是海浪從下往上強力推擠，自行車道就塌了」。他也說，當局正在調查意外發生的原因，會嚴格檢驗工程品質，也將一併徹查其他奧運相關建設。

車道設計不良？零件生銹、扶手消失

這條全長四公里的自行車道連接萊伯倫和聖康拉多之間的高級海灘社區，自1月17日啟用以來，因為景觀絕美而備受稱頌。

但有批評者唱衰，指車道太窄易使自行車騎士變成搶劫目標。啟用後幾周，當地報紙也刊登設施快速惡化的照片，包括扶手莫名消失和鐵製零件生銹。

意外發生前數小時，奧運聖火剛在希臘點燃，接下來將展開為期15周的聖火傳遞行程，直至8月5日巴西奧運揭幕。在希臘觀禮的里約熱內盧市長派希說：「發生的事不可原諒。我已下令立即展開調查，而且我正要返回巴西密切關注。」

這條自行車道和遠高於海面的公路平行，後者是夏季奧運道路自行車比賽的用路。

意外發生時正值巴西國定假日，由於天氣晴朗，里約熱內盧市內的自行車道、海漢和其他室戶運動施設，到處擠滿了人。目擊意外的60歲退休人員艾羅喬指出：「浪頭捲起四、五公尺高，打在牆上。我們看到也在騎自行者的五個人摔落。今天的浪很大。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/world/americas/bike-path-heralded-as-olympic-legacy-collapses-in-brazil.html

2016-04-22．聯合晚報．A6．國際焦點．編譯季晶晶