No fewer than 137 people died when a colonial-era pedestrian bridge packed with revellers collapsed into the river below in western India
Police authority said the in incident happened during the last day of the Diwali festival in Morbi when the nearly 150-year-old suspension bridge
cables cut off.
According to a report, the walkway and one fence crashed into the river, leaving the other side dangling in mid-air and hundreds of people in the water.
A witness named Supran said the bridge was “jam-packed”.
“The cables snapped and the bridge came down in a split second. People fell on each other and into the river,” he told local media.
Another witness who worked all night on rescue efforts said
“I saw the bridge collapse before my eyes,”
Local police chief P. Dekavadiya on Monday afternoon said that the death toll had risen to 137. They included around 50 children, the youngest being a two-year-old boy
One local MP, Kalyanji Kundariya, told media he had lost 12 family members in the accident, including five children
The grand suspension bridge, 233 metres (764 feet) long and 1.5 metres wide, was inaugurated in 1880 by the British colonial authorities and made with materials shipped from England,
source https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda
