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MORBI, India — Scuba divers combed by means of a river in western India on Wednesday to make sure no our bodies had been left behind after the collapse of a newly repaired suspension bridge, as officers examine what led to the tragedy that killed not less than 135 folks.
The 143-year-old pedestrian bridge collapsed Sunday night, sending a whole bunch plunging into the waters of the Machchu River in Gujarat state’s Morbi city. As rescuers proceed to go looking by means of the deep and muddy waters, questions have swirled over why the bridge collapsed and who is perhaps accountable. The bridge, constructed throughout British colonialism and touted by the state’s tourism web site as an “creative and technological marvel,” had reopened simply 4 days earlier.
As of Tuesday night time, 196 folks had been rescued and all 10 of the injured had been in secure situation. Officers mentioned nobody was lacking in accordance with their tally, however emergency responders and divers continued search efforts.
“We need to be on the facet of warning,” Police Inspector-Normal Ashok Yadav had mentioned.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived on the web site Tuesday to examine the collapsed bridge and go to injured folks at a hospital. He additionally chaired a gathering with officers and urged for an in depth investigation into what went mistaken.
Police have thus far arrested 9 folks — together with managers of the bridge’s operator, Oreva Group — and have begun a probe into the incident. State authorities even have a case towards Oreva for suspected culpable murder, tried culpable murder and different violations.
As households mourn the lifeless, consideration has shifted to the standard of the renovation and restore work carried out by Oreva, a bunch of firms recognized primarily for making clocks, mosquito zappers and electrical bikes.
On Tuesday night, prosecutors informed an area courtroom that the contractors who oversaw the restore work weren’t certified, Press Belief of India information company reported.
Citing a forensic report, the prosecution mentioned that whereas the bridge’s flooring was changed, its cable was not and so it couldn’t bear the burden of the brand new flooring, inflicting the cable to snap.
In March, the Morbi city authorities awarded a 15-year contract to to Oreva to keep up and handle the bridge. The identical month, Oreva closed the bridge for seven months for repairs.
The bridge, which spans a large part of the Machchu river, has been repaired a number of instances prior to now and lots of of its authentic components have been changed through the years. It was reopened Oct. 26, the primary day of the Gujarati New 12 months, which coincides with the Hindu competition season. The attraction drew a whole bunch of sightseers.
Sandeepsinh Zala, a Morbi official, informed the Indian Specific newspaper the corporate reopened the bridge with out first acquiring a “health certificates.” That would not be independently verified, however officers mentioned they had been investigating.
A safety video of the catastrophe confirmed it shaking violently and other people making an attempt to carry on to its cables and metallic fencing earlier than the aluminum walkway gave out and crashed into the river. The bridge cut up within the center with its walkway hanging down and its cables snapped.
It was unclear how many individuals had been on the bridge when it collapsed. Survivors mentioned it was so densely packed that folks had been unable to shortly escape when cables started to snap.
Modi was the highest elected official of Gujarat for 12 years earlier than changing into India’s prime minister in 2014. A Gujarat state authorities election is predicted in coming months and opposition events have demanded a radical investigation of the accident.
India’s infrastructure has lengthy been marred by security issues, and Morbi has suffered different main disasters. In 1979, an upstream dam on the Machchu river burst, sending partitions of water into town and killing a whole bunch of individuals in one in all India’s largest dam failures.
In 2001, hundreds of individuals died in an earthquake in Gujarat. Morbi, 150 kilometers (90 miles) from the quake’s epicenter in Bhuj, suffered widespread injury. In line with a report within the Instances of India newspaper, the bridge that collapsed Sunday was additionally severely broken in that earthquake.
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Related Press journalist Ajit Solanki contributed.
