At least 141 people have died after a British-era bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi collapsed Sunday evening.
Some 177 people have been saved and rescue teams are searching for several others who are still missing.
Multiple teams of SDRF, NDRF, Indian Army and even Coast Guard have been deployed for relief work.
The bridge opened for public on October 26 after undergoing a six-month-long renovation. At the time of the incident, 400-500 people were on the bridge, and when it collapsed, hundreds of them fell into the river.
The bridge collapsed Sunday evening when around 500 people had congregated on it to perform some rituals in connection with the Chhath puja.
Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, who cancelled all his scheduled events for Sunday, reached the collapse site late last night to take stock of the situation.
PM Narendra Modi, who is in Gujarat today for the National Unity Day, condoled the loss of lives.
Meanwhile the suspension bridge that collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi city on Sunday was reopened five days ago for public after renovation without a fitness certificate.
The bridge was managed by the Morbi municipality but was given to the Oreva Group on contract for management for 15 years in March, local body chief Sandeepsinh Zala said to Indian Express. The bridge was then shut down for renovation.
Zala went on to say: “However, the private firm threw the bridge open to visitors without notifying us and therefore, we couldn’t get a safety audit of the bridge conducted. It was opened to the public after the completion of the renovation work. But the local municipality had not yet issued any fitness certificate [after the renovation].”
