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Morbi tragedy: Toll goes up to 135
Armed forces and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) continued the search and rescue operations in the Machchu river two days after the tragedy struck
The toll from the pedestrian bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi has gone up to 135 even as armed forces and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) continued the search and rescue operations in the Machchu river two days after the tragedy struck, said a government official on Tuesday. Two people remained missing, he added.
“A total of 152 persons were hospitalised after the incident on October 30...17 are still undergoing treatment,” he said.
The bridge collapsed on Sunday plunging weekend revellers into the Machchu. Oreva Group, a company better known for making watches and clocks than civil engineering, was given a contract to renovate the colonial-era bridge. The bridge was opened on October 26.
Nine people, including two Oreva Group employees, have been arrested on allegations of causing death by negligence among other charges.
The kin of 134 people, who died in the tragedy, have been paid ₹4 lakh compensation each. The state government is in the process of reaching out to the kin of a victim who was from West Bengal.
Gujarat minister Rajendra Trivedi said that rescuers have recovered 135 bodies while nearly 170 persons, who fell into the river, were rescued.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit Morbi on Tuesday to meet with the injured at Morbi’s Civil Hospital and the bridge site, said a second official.
