Gujarat bridge tragedy: Such a number of casualties in one area is a first for us, says NDRF

Heart-rending accounts of the human tragedy in the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat are coming to surface even as the rescue officials termed it a first to see such a huge number of casualties in one place. In their last moments, victims hung from cables of the falling bridge and then fell into the river along with its mangled mass.

Morbi (Gujarat): Heart-rending accounts of the human tragedy in the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat are coming to surface even as the rescue officials termed it a first to see such a huge number of casualties in one place. Eyewitnesses narrate how hundreds of people met with a watery grave when the bridge caved in right in front of their eyes.

In their last moments, victims hung from cables of the falling bridge and then fell into the river along with its mangled mass. Muddy waters in the Machchu river, into which the bridge collapsed, posed difficulties for the rescue teams to reach out to the victims. The authorities feared more people might have been trapped between the riverbed and the fallen bridge.

NDRF Commandant V V N Prasanna Kumar, involved in rescue operations, said, "such a number of casualties in one area is a first for us. Usually, it is an incident of boat capsizing. The only challenge is that this is muddy water that causes visibility issues when our divers go underwater." He went on to explain about the tough challenges they came across while rescuing the victims.

"We divided the area into 3 among Civil Admn, SDRF, Fir Services, Army, Navy, IAF, NDRF. Our divers rescued people & recovered bodies from our area. We suspect that there might be people trapped under floor of bridge that collapsed, we're taking help of deep divers", said the NDRF Commandant.

"I can't describe it in words. There were children as well. I helped people as members of my own family. I also gave my vehicle to carry bodies to the hospital" said Haseena, an eyewitness to the tragic incident. "The admin also helped too. I never saw anything like this ever," said Haseena, recounting the horrific moments that followed after the suspension bridge collapsed in the Machchu river in Morbi town.

Another eyewitness said, "I sell tea there every Sunday. People were hanging from cables & then slipped down. I didn't sleep & helped people entire night. It was heart-wrenching to see a 7-8-month-pregnant woman die. Never saw anything like that in my life."

Meanwhile, the district administration has pressed into service all available departments to rescue the victims. "Two teams of SDRF are here, one local team from NDRF and another from Baroda are here. Army, Air Force, Fire Dept & Municipality teams are here. Their coordination is good", said Rajkot District Collector, Arun Mahesh Babu.

(with agency inputs)