VIDEO: 130 dead in pedestrian bridge tragedy in India
The death toll is rising after a century-old pedestrian bridge collapsed in India yesterday with over 130 people reported dead. Officials reported it collapsed because of overcrowding.
The pedestrian bridge in Morbi in the western Indian state of Gujarat collapsed at about 6.40pm with hundreds of people gathered on it as they celebrated the Diwali festival. The 230 metre bridge over the Machchu River, which was built during British rule in the 19th Century, only reopened after repairs last week.
India state minister Brijesh Merja reported that about 80 to 90 people had been rescued.
An eyewitness said many children were enjoying the Diwali holidays and came here as tourists.
“All of them fell one on top of another. The bridge collapsed due to overloading.”
Videos of the collapsed, buckled bridge went viral on social media. Footage reveals dozens of people clinging onto the bridge as emergency services attempted to rescue them. Some survivors managed to climb up the bridge’s broken netting while others managed to scramble ashore.
FLASH: A cable bridge collapse in Western India has left at least 40 people dead and over 100 trapped. Take a look:pic.twitter.com/klYIaWBacX
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) October 30, 2022
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply saddened by the tragedy,” adding families would be compensated for their loss.
Fifty navy and 30 air force personnel were called in to help along with a national disaster management team to trace missing people, the government said in a statement. A five-member team was appointed to conduct an investigation into the disaster.
One pedestrian, Prateek Vasava, who was on the pedestrian bridge at the time, revealed the horror of seeing people drown as he managed to swim ashore.
“Several children fell into the river. I wanted to pull some of them along with me but they had drowned or got swept away.”
The tragedy comes ahead of elections in Gujarat, which are expected to be held by the year-end with the current term of Modi’s ruling party’s term ending in February 2023.
