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NEW DELHI – Indian officials on Monday filed murder charges against the operators of a suspension bridge and arrested nine people after at least 134 people died when the newly renovated footbridge collapsed, sending tourists plunging into the Machchhu River in the western state of Gujarat.
In addition to the dead, several people were still missing as of midday Monday, Ashok Yadav, a police officer in Gujarat, told the Washington Post. Some outlets, citing unnamed officials, reported that the death toll could be higher, exceeding 140. An official list of fatalities compiled by police showed that more than 50 children were among the dead, some of only 5 years.
The accident took place in Morbi, a riverside town known for its bridge and Victorian-era old town, and took place amid a holiday rush. Tourists celebrated Diwali and the Gujarati New Year, which fell on October 26 this year.
In photos: Bridge collapse in India kills more than 134
Security footage released Monday showed a crowd snapping smartphone photos from the cramped bridge Sunday evening, moments before it began swaying violently before collapsing. Some officials estimated that as many as 400 people were packed onto the bridge, well beyond the safety limit, when the suspension cables buckled and the 760-foot span gave way.
Faruk Aadam Sandhi, who lives in Morbi and lost his 18-year-old cousin Riyaz Rehman Bhatti in the accident, reached the spot 10 minutes after the bridge collapsed. Some visitors were still clinging to the crumpled bridge barely above the waterline, begging for rescue. Others crawled along their rails to shore. More were lost in the water.
“It was chaos,” Sandhi said.
Surveillance footage shows a pedestrian bridge packed with people collapsing in the western Indian state of Gujarat on October 30. At least 130 people died. (Video: Reuters)
After learning that her cousin had died in the fall but her friend Iqbal survived, Sandhi rushed to the hospital. There, he said, corpses were deposited in almost every corner of the open space as hundreds of relatives like him went from room to room looking to claim the bodies of their loved ones. In a 10-foot-by-10-foot room used for autopsies, doctors were “overwhelmed,” Sandhi said.
The collapse was one of India’s worst public safety accidents in recent years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply saddened” by the accident and said he had called for the “urgent mobilization” of rescue teams at the disaster site. Modi’s office said he was due to visit the site on Tuesday.
Dilip Barasara, a Morbi resident and reporter for the Gujarati-language newspaper Sandesh, said it was the worst tragedy to hit the city of about 200,000 since the 2001 earthquake that killed 250 people.
“All day we could hear the sirens of the ambulances running down the deserted roads,” he said. “Either they took the wounded to the hospital or the dead to the crematorium.”
As rescue operations continued Monday, with the Indian army deploying navy divers to search for bodies, scrutiny turned to the company tasked with renovating and operating the bridge. The contractor, Oreva, a large manufacturer known for producing watches and electric bikes, finished a six-month renovation of the bridge on Friday, coinciding with the Gujarati New Year. It was reopened to tourists without first obtaining permission from the government, city official Sandeepsinh Zala told the Indian Express.
Zala also criticized the bridge operators for selling as many tickets as they could without controlling the flow of people.
After a day-long investigation, local police arrested nine people, including two Oreva executives, two contractors, three security guards and two cashiers, said Yadav, the Gujarat police official.
In their initial legal complaint, local police did not name Oreva or any other company, but said they will file culpable homicide charges against “the agency responsible for maintaining the bridge” and the “management agency.” The charge of aggravated manslaughter is not murder and is similar to involuntary manslaughter in the United States legal system.
A pedestrian bridge collapses into a river in India, killing at least 132 people
It is not clear why the company, which specializes in making wall clocks, electric bicycles and ceramic products, was hired to operate the bridge. The company could not be reached for comment Monday, and local media reported its offices were empty.
An Oreva spokesman said it appeared that “the bridge collapsed because too many people in the middle part of the bridge were trying to move it from one way to the other,” according to the Indian Express.
A number of public safety accidents in India have been attributed to shoddy construction. In 2019, a footbridge near the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus building in Mumbai collapsed, killing six people. In 2011, more than 30 people died when a bridge collapsed near the Himalayan city of Darjeeling.
Morbi Bridge, a popular tourist destination that was highlighted on the official Gujarat tourism website, was built by a Gujarati prince in the 19th century. Waghji Thakor, the local ruler, built railways, ports, temples and the bridge, which was to be a technological showcase connecting two of his palaces.
Until Sunday, the bridge, with its views of the arching Machchhu River and an affordable entrance fee of 17 rupees (about 20 cents), was a draw for visitors.
But by dusk, it had become a scene of devastation. Lifeguards pulled a steady stream of bodies from the murky water throughout the night, recalled Hardikbhai Ramesh, a 35-year-old resident. Ramesh’s sister Merabehen, 27, was lost in the river’s currents, but her husband survived.
As of 8 a.m. on Monday, hundreds of people, including Ramesh, were working outside the city’s four small crematoria, waiting in line to perform the last rites.
Businesses were closed and the city was in mourning. Only the wails of ambulances broke the silence.
“I lost my sister,” said Ramesh, “due to the negligence of officials.”
Mahesh Langa in Ahmedabad, Anant Gupta in New Delhi and Jennifer Hassan in London contributed to this report.