Synopsis: Morbi cable bridge in Gujarat collapsed on Sunday evening. 133 deaths have been reported so far.
On Sunday evening (30 October), an old suspension bridge known as the “Jhulta Pool” over the Machchhu river in Gujarat’s Morbi town collapsed at around 6:30 pm.
According to sources, on Monday morning, the death toll in the incident rose to 133. As many as 94 people were reported to be injured. Eighty-four injured people were sent to the government hospital in Morbi, while nine were admitted to a private hospital.
According to officials, a Gujarat State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team was the first to reach the accident site near Morbi, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was mobilised around 7:30 pm. It would take around four to five hours for NDRF to reach the spot.
A team from the air force and two columns of the Indian navy were also involved in the operation that continued through the night.
NDRF, SDRF, and local authorities are conducting search and rescue operations. All the survivors of the accident have been rescued, and efforts are on to retrieve the bodies of those trapped in the Machchhu river. Also, the rescue boats are on the spot.
This bridge was closed seven months ago for repair purposes and reopened on Gujarat New Year Day (October 26) for tourists and locals at large, without a fitness certificate from the Morbi municipality.
Many people were there to visit this place on Diwali holidays and weekends. It’s a tourist place. The incident happened, probably because of the huge crowd at the bridge.
A five-member committee of bureaucrats and police officers to probe into the incident has been appointed by the Gujarat government.
A statement from the Oreva group, a private firm that is responsible for maintaining and managing the bridge, stated that the bridge collapsed because many people in the middle of the bridge were trying to move it from side to side.
PM Modi offers his condolences to the victims of the Morbi bridge incident, saying, “I’m in Ekta Nagar but my mind is with the victims of Morbi. Rarely in my life have I experienced such pain. On the one hand, there is a pain-riddled heart; on the other hand, there is the path to duty.
Mohanbhai Kalyanji Kundariya, BJP MP of Rajkot, also said that he lost 12 members of their family, including five children, in the Morbi bridge collapse, who were from his sister’s family.
Read More: 151 dead at tragic Itaewon stampede in Seoul, South Korea
