MORBI (National Times) \u2013 At least 132 people died in India when a colonial-era pedestrian bridge overloaded with religious revellers collapsed into the river below, police said Monday.<\/p>\n
Authorities said nearly 500 people were celebrating a festival on and around the nearly 150-year-old suspension bridge in Morbi when supporting cables snapped after dark on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The structure in the western state of Gujarat crashed into the river, spilling scores of people into the water while others clung desperately to the wreckage shouting for help.<\/p>\n
“I saw the bridge collapse before my eyes,” one witness who worked all night trying to rescue people said, without giving his name.<\/p>\n
“It was traumatic when a woman showed me a photo of her daughter and asked if I had rescued her. I could not tell her that her daughter had died.”<\/p>\n
Another witness named Supran told local media that the bridge was “jam-packed”.<\/p>\n
“The cables snapped and the bridge came down in a split second. People fell on each other and into the river,” he said.<\/p>\n
Ranjanbhai Patel, another Morbi resident, told local media of the difficulties he and other faced in their bid to help people to shore.<\/p>\n
“We pulled out people who were able to swim ashore. As most of the people had fallen into the river, we were not able to save them,” he said.<\/p>\n
Senior police official Ashok Kumar Yadav told AFP on Monday morning that the death toll now stood at 132. Sources said that most of the victims were women and children.<\/p>\n
Around 15 others were being treated in hospital.<\/p>\n
The bridge over the Machchhu river, a popular tourist spot, had only reopened several days earlier after months of repairs.<\/p>\n
News reports showed footage of people clambering up the twisted remains of the bridge or trying to swim to safety in the dark.<\/p>\n
P. Dekavadiya, the head of police in Morbi, earlier told AFP by phone that more that 130 people had been rescued.<\/p>\n
\u2018No certificate\u2019<\/p>\n
The suspension bridge, 233 metres (764 feet) long and 1.5 metres wide, was inaugurated in 1880 by the British colonial authorities and made with materials shipped from England, reports said.<\/p>\n
Broadcaster NDTV reported that it reopened on Wednesday after seven months of repairs despite not having a safety certificate, and that video footage from Saturday showed it swaying wildly.<\/p>\n
District police have launched an enquiry against the contractor, Yadav said. The state has set up a five-member team to probe the tragedy.<\/p>\n
Authorities quickly launched a rescue operation following the collapse, with boats and divers deployed to search for missing people.<\/p>\n
Dozens of soldiers and sailors from the Indian Army and Navy were also called in for the rescue operation.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was touring his home state of Gujarat at the time, announced compensation for those killed and injured in the accident.<\/p>\n
The Gujarat government on its website describes the bridge some 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of the state\u2019s main city, Ahmedabad, as “an engineering marvel”.<\/p>\n
Accidents from old and poorly maintained infrastructure including bridges are common in India.<\/p>\n
In 2016 the collapse of a flyover onto a busy street in the eastern city of Kolkata killed at least 26 people.<\/p>\n
In 2011 at least 32 people were killed when a bridge packed with festival crowds collapsed near the hill town of Darjeeling in India\u2019s northeast.<\/p>\n
Less than a week later around 30 people were killed when a footbridge over a river in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh collapsed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MORBI (National Times) \u2013 At least 132 people died in India when a colonial-era pedestrian bridge overloaded with religious revellers collapsed into the river below, police said Monday. Authorities said nearly 500 people were celebrating a festival on and around the nearly 150-year-old suspension bridge in Morbi when supporting cables snapped after dark on Sunday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n