A large crowd gathered for the holiday celebrations on a bridge over a river in India. Someone must have rocked the bridge before it collapsed.
On the evening of October 30th a suspension bridge in the municipality of Morbi collapsed in the state of Gujarat India.
The Reuters news agency reports that at least 134 people died in the accident, many of whom were children.
About 400 people were on or near the bridge when it collapsed.
– The sixth time the cable exploded
The New York Times describes the 230-meter-long bridge, built in the Victorian era, as a “tourist attraction”.
A large crowd is said to have gathered on the bridge on the same day that many celebrated the festival of Chhath Puja – hence the large crowd, he writes The Times of India.
– As countless others had done before, some spread their arms and grabbed the net on both sides, swinging the bridge from side to side, writes The New York Times.
A security log that VG saw, published by The times of India, it will show the moment of the collapse of the bridge. The video shows a group of men standing on the bridge. Some of them try to swing the bridge from side to side before it collapses.
– There were 15 to 20 boys between 20 and 25 who shook the bridge. We heard a sound three times and the sixth time the cable suddenly smoked, Ashwin Mehra tells Reuters. He came ashore and received treatment for leg and back injuries.
Today, before the collapse, something similar must have happened: the media company NDTV writes that hundreds of people ran and jumped on the bridge, and that as a result the bridge rocked violently. A photo posted by NDTV shows the crowd, but the date has not been confirmed.
Clinging to the bridge
Then the bridge suddenly collapsed.
In social media videos, much of the bridge can be seen underwater, as well as several people clinging to and trying to get closer to land.
Several boats, ambulances and rescue vehicles were sent to Morbi by Rajkot to assist in the rescue.
Local authorities have been mobilized in coordination and rescue work, according to the Union’s centrally elected Interior Minister, Amit Shah.
The Times of India writes that the bridge was recently reopened after renovations.
On October 31, Indian police arrested nine people following the incident. The New York Times writes that this involves two bridge managers, two ticket sellers, two bridge repairers, and three security guards.
According to Reuters, the reason for the arrests is that they were unable to maintain crowd control prior to the collapse.
Local authorities told Reuters that a company responsible for the bridge did not inform authorities that the bridge would be reopened last week after repairs were carried out. They had not been able to show any documentation that the bridge was ready for use.
Police Chief Ashok Kumar Yadav does not rule out the possibility of further arrests.
