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At event to mark Sardar Patel's bith anniversary, Amit Shah condoles loss of lives in Morbi bridge collapse
The death toll in the Morbi bridge collapse incident has breached 130, even as rescue operations continues at the site.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday expressed grief over the loss of lives due to the collapse of cable bridge in Gujarat's Morbi district. His remarks came as he attended an event to flag off a run to commemorate the 147th birth anniversary of India's first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in Delhi.
The ‘Run for Unity’ began from the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in the national capital, and saw the participation of several people, including sports personalities, enthusiasts and personnel of central police forces. President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, external affairs minister S Jaishankar, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena were among the attendees at the event.
Starting his address, Shah said that several people lost their lives in the “unfortunate incident in Gujarat's Morbi last night”. “First of all, I express condolences to the families of all those who died in the unfortunate incident. May all those who died, rest in peace,” he added.
The death toll in the Morbi bridge collapse rose to at least 132 on Monday morning, even as rescue operations continue at the site. Multiple teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and Navy have been deployed. A few hours after the incident happened, the death toll was placed at 40 but the numbers shot up after rescue teams fished out more bodies from the Machchhu river bed in an overnight operation, Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi said.
He further stated that a criminal case has been lodged in connection with the incident, and those guilty will face strict punishment.
The incident happened on Sunday evening after the 756-metre-long suspended bridge collapsed with 400-500 people on it - which was more than thrice its capacity. Hundreds had fallen into the river as a result, with videos that emerged from the site showing people swimming and trying to hold onto the cables.
Sanghavi said the British-era bridge reopened after renovation after Diwali on October 26, which marked Gujarati New Year.
