RANGOON — Two accidents in as many days along the road outside Muse have left the highway blocked for more than three days, bottlenecking the main border trade point between China and Burma, according to sources near the border.
Vehicle traffic has all but ground to a halt and drivers have been forced to sleep on the road, with only a trickle of four-wheel traffic and some motorcycles able to pass through.
“I have been here [in Muse] three nights already, and still cannot go back to Yangon [Rangoon] as there are no buses traveling,” a frequent traveler to Muse told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
The road has been blocked since Tuesday, when the first of the two traffic accidents took place, according to the source, who said he had to sleep two nights on the road to get to Muse from Rangoon.
A truck transporting a load of iron beams spilled its cargo along the road, rendering the highway largely unpassable until the mess could be removed. The following day, an 24-wheeler in neighboring Kutkai Township to the south flipped on its side and was splayed out across the width of the two-lane road.
Mahar Min, a local Muse resident, said about 50 traffic authorities were attempting to untangle the vehicular blockage on Friday.
Hundreds of heavy trucks transport goods between China and Burma every day and disruptive traffic accidents are not uncommon, but this week’s logjam is notable for its duration.