In one of the worst accidents to hit the nation in the last ten years, a century-old cable suspension bridge in Gujarat, western India, collapsed into a river yesterday, sending hundreds of people plunging into the water and leaving at least 132 dead. Military teams were searching today for those still missing.
At least 177 survivors were pulled from the river and teams from the army, navy and air force were searching for others still missing, said Jigar Khunt, an information department official in Gujarat.
Live video reports showed hundreds of others desperately clinging to the broken structure and trying to make their way to safety, as crowds onshore shouted or swam to try to rescue who had fallen in.
Authorities claim that the 19th-century colonial pedestrian bridge that spans the Machchu river in the state’s Morbi district collapsed because it was unable to support the weight of the large crowd brought by the Hindu festival season, which attracted hundreds of visitors to the recently opened tourist destination.
The 232-meter-long bridge reopened just four days prior to the Gujarati New Year after spending over six months under restoration. Images taken at the catastrophe scene showed the bridge to be split in half and the metal carriageway to be hanging down with some of its metal wires snapped.
According to state minister Harsh Sanghvi, 132 individuals have been officially pronounced dead, and many more have been brought to hospitals in severe condition.
Rescuers and emergency personnel worked all night to look for survivors, according to Sanghvi. He stated the majority of the victims were young individuals, women, and seniors.
Pictures of the missing that worried family members seeking for their loved ones shared were broadcast on local news channels. Many relatives hurried to congested hospitals in search of their loved ones.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his “deep sadness at the incident” while on a three-day visit to his home state of Gujarat.
His office promised compensation for the departed’s families and encouraged prompt rescue operations.
Elections for the Gujarat state legislature are anticipated in the upcoming months, and opposition parties have called for an investigation into the collapse since they claim the bridge was reopened without a safety clearance. The state government asserted that a special team has been assembled to look into the disaster, but the assertion could not be independently verified.
Before taking office as India’s prime minister in 2014, Modi controlled Gijarat as its highest elected official for 12 years.
Safety issues have long plagued India’s infrastructure, frequently resulting in catastrophic events on its highways and bridges.
The bridge collapse is Asia’s third significant accident in a month involving massive crowds.
Over 150 people, mostly children and teenagers, died in a Halloween stampede in Itaewon, a neighbourhood in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday.
On October 1, police in Indonesia used tear gas at a soccer game, triggering a crush that resulted in the deaths of 132 spectators who were attempting to flee.
A suspension bridge collapse in India claimed at least 132 lives.
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