As many as 132 people were killed after a cable bridge collapsed in the Machchhu river in Gujarat’s Morbi district on Sunday evening.
The five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been working overnight to rescue those who fell into the Machhu river.
“The rescue operation is still underway. Indian Army had reached here around 3 at night. We are trying to recover the bodies. Teams of NDRF are also carrying out rescue operations,” said Major Gaurav, Indian Army.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to take cognisance of the matter and ordered an urgent mobilisation of teams for rescue ops. While several bodies were fished out from the river and sent for post-mortem, the injured were rushed to Morbi civil hospital.
After the incident took place, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel rushed to Morbi to personally monitor the rescue operations and medical services. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 financial help to those injured in the accident. The chief minister is likely to camp in Morbi till the rescue operations are not over.
Even PM Modi announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh from Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each of those who lost their lives in the mishap in Morbi. The injured will be given Rs. 50,000.
Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi also inspected the incident site in Morbi. “A criminal case has been registered. An investigation has begun today under the leadership of Range IGP,” he said.
Meanwhile, PM Modi, who is on a three-day tour to Gujarat and Rajasthan, has decided to cancel his roadshow to be held in Ahmedabad on Monday in the wake of the Morbi cable bridge collapse incident.
The century-old bridge, which reopened five days ago after extensive repairs and renovation, was crammed with people when it collapsed around 6:30 pm on Sunday evening.
