VIDEO: Nine arrested in connection with pedestrian bridge tragedy in India

Police in India arrested nine people in connection with the collapse of a pedestrian bridge which killed about 140 people on Sunday.

Senior police officer Ashok Kumar Yadav made a statement yesterday announcing the suspects arrested are all associated with Oreva, a Gujarat-based electrical appliances manufacturer that did repairs to the 230-meter-long bridge in the town of Morbi in India’s western Gujarat state.

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The nine suspects include two managers, two ticket clerks, two contractors and three security guards.

Yadav made known the accused are being investigated for “culpable homicide not amounting to murder.”

Different reports say between 134 and 140 people died, including 30 children when the pedestrian bridge collapsed into the river on Sunday at about 6.40pm local time as residents and travelers celebrated Diwali.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi estimated that there were about 200 people on the bridge when it collapsed which contradicts guesswork by Morbi district official Vishal Kanjaria who said about 170 people had been rescued from the bridge.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said all of the victims’ families will receive compensation from the National Relief Fund.

Modi said…

“My heart is filled with love and is with the families of those suffering.

“The state government has set up a committee to investigate the incident. I assure the people of the country that there will be nothing lacking in the relief and rescue efforts.”

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said the state government would provide the equivalent of about US$5,000 in compensation per family of the deceased and about US$600 each for the injured.

“I express my condolences to the families of the citizens who lost their lives in the tragedy.”

The bridge was built over 100 years ago and crossed over the Machchhu River to form a gateway to Morbi.

ORIGINAL STORY: 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 investigate 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.