Tragedy struck on Sunday in Gujarat India, as over 130 fun seekers were plunged into deep water when a footbridge suddenly collapsed.
The bridge was packed with sightseers enjoying the holiday festivities when it suddenly collapsed. Rescue teams have begun searching for missing victims.
On Monday, the death toll reached 134, and officials worry that the figure may rise now that a criminal investigation has been launched into one of the deadliest incidents to occur in the nation in the past ten years, Aljazeera reported.
The 232 meters (761 feet) long bridge in the Morbi area was constructed during the 19th century British colonial rule. Only last week was it reopened to the public following renovations.
Images at the disaster scene showed that the bridge split in half and the metal carriageway hanging down some of its metal wires snapped.
According to Jigar Khunt, a representative from Gujarat’s communication department, at least 177 survivors were retrieved from the Machhu River, and military search teams were looking for the remaining unaccounted-for victims.
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Authorities said that the Hindu festival season brought hundreds of tourists to the bridge, which had been closed for six months for repairs, and that the bridge fell because it could not support the weight of the massive crowd.
Although the precise number of people on the bridge at the time of its collapse was not immediately known, survivors claimed that due to its crowded nature, the crowd was unable to flee for safety when the cable strings started to split.
