Morbi Bridge Collapse: 4-year-old Boy Loses Parents Among 141 Dead
In a heart-wrenching incident, a four-year-old boy survived while both his parents died in the bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat's Morbi district on Sunday.?As many as 141 people lost their lives?including that of women and children, when the suspension bridge with over 500 collapsed in district's Machchhu river.
Boy visited the bridge with parents, uncle & aunt
According to a resident of Uma township, their neighbour Hardik Faldu, his wife Miralben, four-year-old son Jiyansh, Hardik's cousin and his wife had gone to visit the cable bridge.
In the accident Hardik and his wife Miral died, whereas Jiyansh was lucky to survive, Jiyansh's uncle too has survived and is being treated at a hospital as he has suffered injuries. However, Harsh's wife has also died in the accident.
A Uma town resident said that Hardik was a native of Halvad town and the deceased family members' bodies will be taken to Halvad for cremation on Monday as the town will observe a bandh.
Recently repaired, but collapsed
The bridge in Morbi had been reopened just a week ago after repairs.There was overcrowding on the bridge at the time as people celebrated the Chhath Puja, officials said.The 754ft bridge on the Machchu river was built during British rule in the 19th century.The death toll is expected to rise further.
The Gujarat government has appointed a five-member committee of bureaucrats and police officers to probe into the incident. A spokesperson of the Oreva Group, a private firm responsible for maintaining and managing the bridge, stated that ¡°prima facie, the bridge collapsed as too many people in the mid-section of the bridge were trying to sway it from one way to the other.¡±
No fitness certificate
Sandeepsinh Zala, Chief Officer, Morbi Municipality, told The Indian Express that ¡°the private firm threw the bridge open to visitors without notifying us and therefore, we couldn¡¯t get a safety audit of the bridge conducted¡ the local municipality had not yet issued any fitness certificate (after the renovation work).¡±
Morbi town is voluntarily observing a bandh on Monday to mourn the deaths of people who died in the incident. Former BJP MLA from Morbi Assembly constituency, Kantilal Amrutiya told media persons on Monday morning that throughout Sunday evening, the search operation was underway even as several families are complaining of missing persons.
Nearly 200 jawans from the Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF, local fire brigade teams, and local divers and swimmers have joined the search operation. Rajkot Collector Arun Mahesh Babu is reportedly camping at Morbi and helping local authorities in search and rescue operations.
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