At least 130 people were killed when a colonial-era pedestrian bridge in India collapsed, sending many into the river below, police said on Monday.
About 500 people, including women and children, were celebrating a religious festival on and around the nearly 150-year-old suspension bridge in Morbi, western India, when it was attacked shortly after dark on Sunday, officials said. Conductor wires are broken.
It brought down a devastating structure into a river in Gujarat state, leaving several people in the water and others clinging to the debris.
“The death toll is now 130,” Morbi superintendent of police Rahul Tripathi told JEE News, adding that about 15 others were being treated in hospital.
The bridge over the Machu River, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s main city, reopened just days ago after months of repairs.
A witness told local media that people fell on top of each other after the bridge collapsed. “People had gathered on the bridge due to rituals and Diwali festival. Among the victims were many children and women.”
News reports showed videos – which could not be independently verified – of people hanging onto the remains of the bridge or trying to swim to safety in the dark.
More than 130 people have been rescued, Morbi police chief P Decavadia told JEE News by phone.
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According to reports, the 233 m (764 ft) long and 1.5 m wide suspension bridge was inaugurated in 1880 by the British colonial authorities and was built with materials shipped from England.
Reported that it reopened on Wednesday after seven months of repairs despite not having a safety certificate, and video footage from Saturday showed it swaying wildly.
Authorities immediately launched rescue operations after the collapse, with boats and divers deployed late into the night to search for the missing.
Dozens of soldiers of the Indian Army and Navy were also called for the rescue operation.
Officials were planning to use pumps to cut off the water supply to the river from the nearby check dam and reduce the water level in the river to speed up the search operation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was visiting his home state Gujarat at the time, announced compensation for those killed and injured in the accident.
Modi “tried to immediately mobilize teams for rescue (operations)”, his office tweeted.
“They have asked for the situation to be closely and continuously monitored, and (for the authorities) to provide all possible assistance to those affected.”
The Gujarat government has described the bridge as “an engineering marvel built at the turn of the century” on its official website.
Accidents are common in India due to old and poor infrastructure including bridges.
In 2016, at least 26 people were killed when a flyover collapsed on a busy road in the eastern city of Kolkata.
In 2011, at least 32 people were killed when a bridge packed with festival crowds collapsed near the hill town of Darjeeling in northeastern India.
Less than a week later, around 30 people were killed when a footbridge collapsed over a river in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.
In 2006, at least 34 people were killed when a 150-year-old bridge collapsed on a passenger train at a railway station in the eastern state of Bihar.
