Gandhinagar: The toll in the Morbi suspension bridge collapse tragedy touched 132 on Monday. “As per the latest information, 132 people lost their lives in the tragedy and two are still missing,” Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi told the media.
The more than a-century-old bridge, which had reopened on October 26 after extensive repairs and renovation, collapsed around 6.30 pm on Sunday. It had not received the municipality’s “fitness certificate”, an official told TOI.
Reports suggest that there was overcrowding on the bridge at the time as people celebrated the Diwali festival. Most of those who had died were women, children or the elderly, according to Gujarat police officials.
A video shot before the collapse showed it packed with people and swaying with many gripping the netting on its sides, the BBC reported.
Five teams of NDRF, six platoons of SDRF, a team of Air Force, two columns of Army, and two teams of Indian Navy apart from local rescue teams were deployed and the rescue effort continued through the night. Around 177 people have been rescued. 19 people are under treatment.
#MorbiBridgeCollapse | Indian Army teams deployed in Morbi, Gujarat carried out search and rescue operations for survivors of the mishap. All three defence services have deployed their teams for search operations: Defence officials pic.twitter.com/tfEjCW3MhE
— ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2022
A criminal case has been registered and an investigation under the leadership of Range IGP, the minister added.
