Nine people have been detained by police in western India as they look into the collapse of a recently rebuilt 143-year-old suspension bridge, one of the biggest accidents to hit the nation in recent memory, according to officials.
At least 134 people were killed when the structure in Gujarat state collapsed Sunday evening (local time).
The pedestrian bridge collapsed, prompting questions about why it happened and who might be to blame. The bridge was constructed in the late 1800s during British colonisation and was hailed as a “artistic and technological masterpiece” by the state’s tourism website.
Just four days before, the bridge had reopened.
Police have established a special inquiry team, according to Inspector-General Ashok Yadav. Managers of the Oreva Group, which operates the bridge, as well as its employees have been detained.
Yadav declared, “We won’t spare anyone, we won’t allow the guilty go away.”
For suspected culpable homicide, attempted culpable homicide, and other offences, Gujarati authorities opened a case against Oreva.
The local Morbi town council granted Oreva, a conglomerate of businesses best known for producing clocks, mosquito zappers, and electric bikes, a 15-year deal in March to operate and maintain the bridge.
The bridge, which crosses a sizable portion of the Machchu river, was closed by Oreva for renovations that same month.
The bridge has undergone multiple repairs, and many of its original components have been replaced.
The attraction received hundreds of visitors when it was reopened on October 26, the first day of the Gujarati New Year, which falls during the Hindu festival season, over seven months later.
According to Sandeepsinh Zala, a Morbi official, the business reopened the bridge without first getting a “fitness certificate,” as reported in the Indian Express newspaper. Although it couldn’t be independently verified, authorities claimed they were looking into it.
According to the authorities, the building gave way beneath the weight of hundreds of people.
Before the aluminium walkway gave way and crashed into the river, a security footage of the incident showed it trembling violently and people attempting to grab on to its wires and metal railing.
The bridge’s walkway was hanging down and the wires had snapped, causing it to split in half.
According to police, at least 134 deaths have been officially confirmed, and numerous others have been brought to hospitals in serious condition. Rescuers and emergency personnel searched for survivors all night long on Monday (local time).
According to state minister Harsh Sanghvi, the majority of the victims were women, senior persons, and teenagers.
According to Jigar Khunt, a representative of Gujarat’s communication department, at least 177 people were retrieved from the river.
It is unknown how many people were on the bridge at the time of its collapse and how many are still missing, but survivors said that it was so crowded that as its cables started to split, many were unable to rapidly flee.
Just too many people were gathered on the bridge.
Sidik Bai, 27, who was recovering from injuries in a Morbi hospital, stated, “We could hardly move.
Sidik claimed that he observed his friend being crushed by the bridge’s metal walkway as it started to collapse and dove into the sea in response. He hung on to the wires of the bridge and made it.
Everyone was yelling for help, but gradually they all started to vanish in the sea, one by one, Sidik said.
Family members rushed to packed hospitals in search of their loved ones as local news channels broadcast images of the missing that worried relatives had shared.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Gujarat on a visit at the time of the disaster, is a native of the state. In addition to announcing compensation for the families of the deceased and urging prompt rescue attempts, his office stated that he was “personally pained by the incident.”
During a public engagement in the state, Modi declared, “I have rarely felt such anguish in my life.”
After an Indian bridge collapsed, killing 134 people, nine people were arrested.
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