Morbi bridge collapse: Hopes fade for survivors in Gujarat tragedy

A rescue operation – begun after a pedestrian suspension bridge collapsed in India’s western state of Gujarat – has been scaled down as hopes fade of more survivors being found.

Officials say 141 people – most of them women, children or elderly – died after the bridge collapsed on Sunday evening.

The 140-year-old structure in Morbi town reopened a week ago after repairs.

There was overcrowding on the bridge – a major local tourist attraction – at the time it collapsed, officials said.

Police are questioning eight people in connection with the incident, a police official confirmed to BBC Gujarati. Those being questioned included security personnel and ticket sellers.

The official refused to confirm whether employees from Oreva Group, the firm which was in charge of maintaining the bridge, are also being questioned.

Questions have been raised over why Oreva Group, a company which once described itself as the “world’s largest clock manufacturing company” – before it also began making lighting products, battery-operated bikes, home appliances and TV sets – was given responsibility for maintaining a bridge.

Concerns have also been raised about whether safety checks were carried out before the bridge was reopened.

The 230m (754ft) bridge on the Machchhu river was built in 1880, during British rule in India.

In travel brochures, a visit to the Julto Pul (or the Hanging Bridge) is listed among “the top 10 things to do in Morbi” and it attracts a large number of sightseers and local people on holidays and at festivals.

Officials have not yet said how many people were on the bridge when tragedy struck at around 18:40 (13:10 GMT) on Sunday, but estimates put it between 400 and 500.

More than 177 people have been rescued, officials said.

On Monday morning, a dozen boats with members of the national and state disaster response teams searched for survivors while divers from the Indian navy were on standby, reported BBC Gujarati’s Roxy Gagdekar who was at the scene.

Four cranes were deployed to pull out the wreckage and rescuers looked for bodies trapped underneath.

Distressed relatives searched for their loved ones and as the hours passed, their desperation grew, our correspondent said.

A young man told the BBC that he had been searching for his six-year-old sister since Sunday night.

“I was holding her hand when the bridge collapsed and we fell into the river. I survived and have been looking for her everywhere, I went to the government hospital also, but my sister is nowhere to be found,” he said, sobbing.

A video shot before the collapse showed the overcrowded bridge swaying while people gripped the netting on its sides.

After the incident, dozens were seen clinging onto the wreckage as emergency teams attempted to rescue them. Some survivors clambered up the bridge’s broken netting, and others managed to swim to the river banks.

Early on Monday morning, rescuers made an opening in a small dam on the river, about 500 metres downstream, to reduce the water flow.

The bridge above the dam was packed with people, waiting to hear news of their loved ones.

Gujarat is the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has announced compensation for the families of victims. He said he was “deeply saddened by the tragedy”.

“I express my condolences to families of those who lost their lives in the accident. In this hour of grief, the government is with the bereaved families in every manner,” Mr Modi said on Monday at an event in the state.

He added that a committee had been set up to investigate the collapse.

Leader of the opposition Congress party Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded an inquiry headed by a retired judge to ascertain how the bridge collapsed within just “five-six days” of being reopened after renovations and who allowed so many people on it.

Prateek Vasava was on the bridge at the time. He told 24 Hours, a Gujarati-language news channel, how he had swum to the river bank.

Several children fell into the river, he said, adding: “I wanted to pull some of them along with me but they had drowned or got swept away.”

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