Ahmedabad: The death toll due to the collapse of a suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi has increased to 141 as of Monday morning, confirmed Rajkot IG Ashok Yadav on Monday. "Around 177 people have been rescued. 19 people are under treatment. Army, Navy, Air Force, NDRF, and Fire Brigade are conducting search operations," said the Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi adding that two persons are missing. He also said that when the two missing persons are located, the search and rescue operations will be over.
As of Monday morning, the Morbi government hospital has released a list of 99 deceased but has not mentioned the age of the victims. A criminal complaint against the cable bridge contractor and manager has been lodged while the police have started a probe into the incident.
The century-old suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Gujarat's Morbi city collapsed on Sunday evening at around 6:30 pm. The bridge, which reopened four days ago after extensive repairs and renovation, was crammed with over 400 people which the officials are citing as the reason for the collapse.
At least 68 casualties were recorded initially in the tragedy. Eyewitnesses said there were several women and children on the British-era hanging bridge when it snapped, plunging them into the water below. Some people were seen jumping on the bridge and pulling its big wires, an eyewitness said. People fell over each other when the bridge collapsed, he said.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. Municipalities Commissioner Rajkumar Beniwal will head the probe panel. Before leaving for Morbi, he told the local media that all team members will reach the tragedy site immediately and start the investigation. "The team's first task is to find out the reason behind the collapse of the suspension bridge. Based on the findings, SIT will also make suggestions to avoid such incidents in the future," he said.
Beniwal further informed that four technical experts with expertise in structural design and quality control will be a part of the team. They will collect samples of the bridge to check the quality of the material used and rectify whether proper construction standards were maintained. Beniwal added that the contractor engineer's statement will be recorded and documents of various certificates will be recovered to confirm whether at every stage, quality approvals were taken and materials were sent for testing.
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Soon after the collapse, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel reached the incident site along with State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi. Speaking to the media at the site Sanghavi said that the fire brigade, collector, district SP, doctors, and ambulance reached the spot in just 15 minutes. “It's a sad and unfortunate incident. Around 6:30 pm, the bridge in Morbi carrying 150 people collapsed. In just 15 minutes, the fire brigade, collector, district SP, doctors, and ambulance reached the spot,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a tweet that the PM, who is currently in Gujarat, spoke to CM Patel and officials regarding the mishap. "He (PM Modi) has sought urgent mobilization of teams for rescue ops. He has asked that the situation be closely and continuously monitored, and extend all possible help to those affected," the PMO said. Modi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each of those who lost their lives in the incident. The injured persons would be given an amount of Rs 50,000, as per the Prime Minister's Office.
President Droupadi Murmu said her thoughts and prayers are with the affected people in the bridge collapse tragedy. "The tragedy in Morbi, Gujarat has left me worried. My thoughts and prayers are with the affected people. Relief and rescue efforts will bring succor to the victims," the president tweeted. He also canceled his roadshow in Ahmedabad to be held on Monday, while he is on a three-day visit to Gujarat.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were on the job and the Gujarat administration had promptly carried out rescue and relief work."I am deeply saddened by the accident in Morbi. I have spoken to Harsh Sanghavi, Minister of State for Home, and other officials of Gujarat in this matter. Local administration is engaged in providing relief work with full readiness, NDRF is also reaching the spot soon. The administration has been directed to provide immediate treatment to the injured," Shah tweeted in Hindi.
