On 30 Oct, holiday festivities in India took a turn for the worse when a suspension bridge collapsed, plunging citizens into a river.
Local media reports have determined that the death toll has risen to at least 141.
It will likely increase further as a search operation to locate missing people continues.
Several children were among the victims, and an investigation into the incident is underway.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reports that the incident occurred in the town of Morbi within the western Indian state of Gujarat on 30 Oct.
Over 500 people had gathered on a 150-year-old suspension bridge over the Macchu River for a religious festival. The cables supporting it snapped, causing them to fall into the river below.
Footage of the incident on Twitter showed people clinging to the wreckage of the structure and the remnants of the cables.
Source: News24 on Twitter
Some of them swam back to safety, while others waited for help.
Prateek Vasava, one of the victims, swam to the river bank. He told 24 Hours Gujarati-language news channel that he saw several children fall into the river, Al Jazeera reports.
“I wanted to pull some of them along with me, but they had drowned or got swept away,” he said, mentioning that the collapse occurred within a few seconds.
The bridge had undergone renovation just a week ago, with CNA reporting that it reopened on 26 Oct after seven months of repairs.
It did not have a safety certificate at the time, and local media showcased video clips of it swaying vigorously on 29 Oct.
According to NDTV, the death toll has risen to 141, with at least 177 people saved from the incident. A rescue operation is still underway to assist in searching for missing persons.
Source: Al Jazeera
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the developing situation in a statement on Monday (31 Oct), The Hindustan Times reported.
He expressed his sorrow for the tragedy, acknowledging the efforts of local citizens in assisting with the rescue operation.
Reuters also reported that PM Modi directed the state chief minister to mobilise teams urgently for the relief operation.
He emphasised that the central government would spare no effort to search and rescue the victims.
50 navy and 30 air force officers have been deployed to assist with tracing missing people along with a national disaster management team. They have additionally appointed a five-member team to investigate the incident.
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Featured image adapted from News24 on Twitter.
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