At least 141 people have lost their lives after a bridge made up in British-era collapsed in Morbi city of Gujarat on Sunday. However, the ongoing rescue operation has rescued around 177 people so far.
The bridge which is 300 km away from Ahmedabad had collapsed when around 500 people were on bridge to perform some rituals on the occasion of Chhath puja. The bridge collapsed around 6:42 pm on Sunday.
At a press briefing today morning, Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said that a criminal case has been logded for the incident and a special five-member committee has been set up to investigate the incident. “The rescue teams and officials worked all through the night,” he further said.
To carry out the rescue operation five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) soon reached the spot following which army, air force and navy were also sent to action.
According to the officials, around 19 people who were seriously injured in the incident have been admitted to the hospital and the rescue operation is being done using boats.
There were many women and children present over the 150-year-old bridge when it collapsed tumbling groups of people into the river.
The videos of the incident showed some were trying to swim to safety while some were seen clinging with the broken bridge.
This bridge which is situated over the Machchhu river was closed for past seven months for renovation but it was again reopened for the public on October 26, on the occasion of Gujarati New Year.
The bridge did not get any fitness certificate from the authorities before its reopening, said the chief of local municipal body Sandipsinh Zala.
“Renovation happened last week. We are also shocked. We are looking into the matter… The government takes responsibility for this tragedy,” Gujarat minister for Labour and Employment, Brijesh Merja told media in an interview.
Soon after the incident, the state government expressing its condolences announced a compensation of ₹ 4 lakh to the families of the each one who died and ₹ 50,000 to those who were injured. Along with this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced a financial aid of ₹ 2 lakh to the each affected family.
