MORBI, INDIA (AFP) – Divers searched for more bodies yesterday after the collapse of a recently renovated suspension bridge killed 134 people in western India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the disaster site.
Questions also grew about the possible cause of the catastrophe at Morbi, in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, on Sunday.
Nine people have been arrested on homicide charges over the collapse of the 150-year-old structure.
The pedestrian bridge was packed with people celebrating the final day of the Deepavali holidays. Forty-seven children were among those killed, with a previous overall toll of 137 revised downwards.
Horrific CCTV footage showed the rickety structure, a popular tourist spot, packed with people and then suddenly giving way as cables snapped.
Several hundred fell into the river, while others clung desperately to the twisted remains of the bridge screaming in the dark for help.
“I heard screams and a loud thud and then there was silence. Then slowly cries and screams,” survivor Madhvi Ben, 30, told AFP.
Ben said one of her legs was tangled in “a steel rope”, leaving her almost entirely submerged and struggling to break free.
“I somehow blocked my nose and pulled myself up and released my leg from the wire. I grabbed another wire and climbed the remains of the bridge,” she said.
Morbi businessman Rafiq Gaffar, whose two nephews aged 12 and 21 died, described the scene as “mayhem”.
“People were crying and wailing. It was a scene from doomsday,” Gaffar, 45, said.
“There were bodies floating on the water everywhere and people trapped on the bridge who were frantically calling for help.”
There were no further reports of missing people yesterday.
Rescuers in inflatable boats drove in circles in an attempt to bring up any objects from the bottom of the river.
“We have not called off the search operation yet as there is always this apprehension there could be victims from outside whose kin are not aware of their whereabouts and haven’t contacted us yet,” said Rahul Tripathi of the Morbi police force.
