Morbi tragedy: Stories of loss, grief and rage from bereaved families

The bereaved families left behind by the dead victims of the tragic Morbi bridge collapse have a lot of questions left unanswered as they grieve the death of their loved ones. Here is a brief account of their ordeals, questions, confusions, and demands.

Morbi (Gujarat): The Meera family was tired yet happy as everyone sat in the living room after a maginificient engagement ceremony, planning the engagement of another one of their daughters when the phone rang. No one could have imagined they would soon have to see the dead body of the 19-year-old whom they hoped to get married a few months later.

The family could not process the shock of having lost six people just like that, in a snap of a finger, when the suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi town collapsed on Sunday evening. "Two of the people we lost were little children. Four were adults, and there are four more who are in critical condition at the hospital. Many of our children are injured and traumatized," said Imran Sayyad, one of the bereaved family members.

The family had just concluded the big engagement ceremony on Sunday when some family members decided to visit the newly opened Morbi bridge around evening. "We could not believe it when we got the call. One moment we were discussing the marriage of our daughter, and the next moment we were told she is dead with 5 other of our loved ones. The family is inconsolable right now," Imran added.

These six were among the 134 that died in the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy which is being reported as one of the most tragic accidents the Indian heartland has seen in the last decade. While an investigation into the incident is underway, there are several discrepancies emerging as possible reasons for the bridge collapse. The bereaved families too have many to blame, though they are still unclear on what to put a finger on.

"If they(authorities) are letting 500 people on a bridge that has a capacity of 100-150 people, what else will happen? They were fully aware of the risks and they still ignored them. It's like they did it on purpose. What do we do now? How do we bring back the dead?" asked an enraged Imran, adding all that his family now wants is justice to be served.

"We don't know who is responsible. The government is to find that out. All we know is that we want strict action against the culprit," he added. The six people that Imran's family lost have been identified as Nafeesaben Mehboobhai Meera(19), Rukshnaben Chauhan (40), Saniaben Chauhan (18), Roshanben Pathan (32), Mahiya Pathan (6), and Danish Pathan (3).

Some of the victims' family members have also claimed that the authorities have given distorted figures of the deceased, as several people are not on the record of victims. Meanwhile, some digging into the background of the bridge contract revealed that the Morbi Municipality had signed a deal with Oreva Pvt Ltd -- a company that had no experience in bridge maintenance or construction work.

Oreva was supposed to renovate the suspension bridge within eight to twelve months before throwing it open to public. However, for reasons unknown, the reopening was expedited and the bridge was reopened for the public on October 26, just seven months after the contract was formalized.

"It is simple, there was money and corruption involved. The Morbi municipality colluded and gave the contract to an incompetent company, fully aware of the possible repercussions. This Oreva company has no expertise," said the kin of another young girl who died in the accident. Taking a dig at the Modi government, he further said, "The BJP government is at the center, and yet there is such fatal carelessness going on in their home state. They should also be held accountable. The Morbi municipality is fully responsible for this and so is the state government. What kind of a system is this where they claim they did not know that the bridge has been opened?" he asked.

Asif, who lost one of his children, his wife, and his mother, said the accident has snatched away all the hopes and happiness from his life. "I have a two-year-old left with me who keeps asking where his mother and grandma are. I don't know what to tell him. My entire family is destroyed," a teary-eyed Asif said.

"They sold more tickets than they should. They knew the bridge can't take so much weight and yet many people were let in. The advertisements said the bridge will stand for 15 years, it did not even stand for 15 days. It cost me just a ticket worth rs.15 to lose my entire family," he said, blaming the maintenance team at the bridge who, according to Asif, could have averted the tragic accident had they not allowed so many people on board together.

Among other factors, people on the bridge themselves are also being blamed for the accident, after a CCTV footage of the bridge moments before it collapsed surfaced across the media. The video shows people on the bridge shaking it, and playing with the suspension wires moments before one of the wires snaps and the bridge collapses, plunging the people into the river below. The probing officials have reportedly detained 9 people so far, while an interrogation is underway.