The death toll is increasing every hour in the incident of the British-era bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi. Around 141 people were killed in this incident and 177 people have been saved by the rescue team as of now. This disastrous incident happened last evening. Around 500 people, including women and children, were on the bridge at the time of its collapse.
The mishap happened when the cables of the suspension bridge snapped. Many people were performing Chhath puja rituals on the bridge. People fell on one another when the bridge collapsed. Some of them swam across the Machchhu river to safety. The videos of the incident went viral on social media.
The bridge was shut for seven months for renovation work. It was reopened to the public very recently, on October 26, on the occasion of Gujarati New Year. People are blaming the government for not checking the stability of the bridge after renovation works.
According to the reports, the renovator has not taken a safety certificate from the authorities before reopening the bridge. The state government announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 4 lakh to the families of each one who died and Rs. 50,000 for the injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs for the families of all the victims. He also cancelled his roadshow which was supposed to be held in Ahmedabad today.
