Gujarat's Morbi town to observe 'bandh' to mourn cable bridge collapse victims, death toll reaches 132

Morbi: Gujarat’s Morbi town will voluntarily observe a ‘bandh’ on Monday to mourn the deaths of those who died after a cable bridge collapsed on Sunday leading to the death of over 100 people. The death toll in Gujarat’s Morbi bridge collapse incident has now reached 135 and over 177 people have been rescued so far. As many as 135 bodies have been recovered by the rescuers and several people are feared missing.

The tragedy occurred after a suspension bridge collapsed on the Machhu river in the Morbi town of Gujarat. The search operation is likely to continue for another 24 hours, state police said.

Former BJP MLA from Morbi Assembly constituency, Kantilal Amrutiya has told media persons on Monday morning that throughout Sunday evening, the search operation was underway as the death toll is estimated to have reached 135 after several families are complaining of missing persons.

Nearly 200 jawans from the Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF, local fire brigade teams, and local divers and swimmers have joined the search operation. Rajkot Collector Arun Mahesh Babu is also camping at Morbi and helping local authorities in search and rescue operations.

He told the media that to reduce the water level at the incident site, just a few minutes ago through a limited blast a check dam was demolished. Once the water recedes it will help the search team to search bodies. He estimates that the search operation is likely to continue for the next 24 hours.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has set up a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an IAS officer to inquire into the suspension bridge collapse in Morbi town, which left over 100 dead. The SIT will be headed by Commissioner of Municipalities Rajkumar Beniwal, and the other members are the Secretary, Roads and Building Department, Sandeep Vasava, Inspector General of Police Subhash Trivedi, and two engineers specialised in structural and quality control. 

The state government has deployed four NDRF teams, as well as defence personnel in search and rescue operations, and even summoned swimmers and divers from surrounding districts. According to locals, the bridge contractor was charging Rs 12 and 17 from visitors.

The suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Gujarat's Morbi that collapsed on Sunday evening killing several people was reopened for the public just four days back after seven months of repair work by a private firm, but had not received the municipality's "fitness certificate", an official said told PTI. The more than century-old bridge in Morbi city caved in around 6.30 pm when it was crammed with people.