In the morning of 25 May demolition specialists of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry blew up the faulty span of the bridge over the Pripyat River on the road between Turov and Zhitkovichi, Gomel Oblast. The operation took five days to prepare and more than a tonne of explosives. A crack in the bridge span was detected on 7 December 2017. The bridge was then closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Ferry service and a pontoon bridge were used instead at different times. In March 2018 Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko gave instructions to build a new bridge by 7 November.