In one of the deadliest accidents to hit the nation in the previous ten years, a century-old cable suspension bridge that was across a river in Gujarat, western India, collapsed into the water on Sunday, sending hundreds of people plummeting into the water and killing at least 132.
According to Jigar Khunt, a representative of Gujarat’s communication department, at least 177 survivors were retrieved from the river, and teams from the army, navy, and air force were looking for the remaining unaccounted-for victims.
As groups on land shouted or dove into the water to try to save those who had fallen in, hundreds of others could be seen helplessly clinging to the collapsed structure.
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.
For the Gujarati New Year, the 232-meter (761-foot) long bridge that had been shuttered for nearly six months for renovations finally reopened. 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.
Although the precise number of people on the bridge at the time of its collapse was not immediately known, survivors claimed that due to its crowded nature, the throng was unable to flee for safety when the cable strings started to split.
Just too many people were gathered on the bridge. Sidik Bai, 27, who was suffering from injuries in a hospital bed in Morbi, stated, “We could hardly move.
Sidik claimed he observed his companion being crushed by the bridge’s metal carriageway as it started to collapse and jumped into the sea. He managed to escape the catastrophe by ascending the bridge and clinging to its wires, but his friend was unable to do so.
Everyone was yelling for help, but gradually they all started to vanish in the sea, one by one, Sidik said.
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 financial aid for the departed’s relatives and asked for speedy rescue efforts.
During a public event in the state on Monday, Modi said, “Rarely in my life would I have faced such agony.
Before becoming India’s prime minister in 2014, Modi governed Gujarat as its top elected official for 12 years.
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.
