AHMEDABAD: At least 132 people died in India when a colonial-era pedestrian bridge overloaded with religious revellers collapsed into the river below, police said on Monday (Oct 31).
Authorities said nearly 500 people were celebrating a religious festival on and around the nearly 150-year-old suspension bridge in Morbi when supporting cables snapped soon after dark on Sunday.
The structure in the western state of Gujarat crashed into the river, spilling scores of people into the water while others clung desperately to the wreckage shouting for help.
“I saw the bridge collapse before my eyes,” one witness who worked all night trying to rescue people said, without giving his name.
“It was traumatic when a woman showed me a photo of her daughter and asked if I had rescued her. I could not tell her that her daughter had died.”
Another witness named Supran told local media that the bridge was “jam-packed”.
“The cables snapped and the bridge came down in a split second. People fell on each other and into the river,” he said.
Ranjanbhai Patel, another Morbi resident, told local media of the difficulties he and others faced in their bid to help people to shore.
“We pulled out people who were able to swim ashore. As most of the people had fallen into the river, we were not able to save them,” he said.
Senior police official Ashok Kumar Yadav told AFP on Monday morning that the death toll now stood at 132. Sources said that most of the victims were women and children.
Around 15 others were being treated in hospital.
The bridge over the Machchhu river, a popular tourist spot, had only reopened several days earlier after months of repairs.
News reports showed footage of people clambering up the twisted remains of the bridge or trying to swim to safety in the dark.
P Dekavadiya, the head of police in Morbi, earlier told AFP by phone that more than 130 people had been rescued.