Toll reached 135 Human Lives & Rescued many by locals & rescuers
The 135-year-old suspension bridge or the Hanging Bridge popularly known as (Jhoolto Pul) collapsed on Sunday evening around 18:30 hours, on Machu river, Morbi. After being closed for more than seven months for maintenance and remodelling, the bridge collapsed on the 4th day after reopening. The death toll has risen to 60, eyewitness said, “Many people came here in view of the Diwali holidays & weekend; it’s a tourist-friendly place. The incident occurred probably because of the huge crowd at the bridge. When it collapsed, people fell over each other.”
The Fire and Emergency Service Control room was informed by a local. Without any hesitation, the first responder team headed by local Morbi fire officer Devendra sing Jadeja arrived at the scene within four minutes and immediately got to work on relief efforts and rescue operations. During the initial operation, the Fire and Emergency Services team was able to receive support from the Police and local volunteers, and 98 people were successfully transported to the hospital within the first hour. The NDRF Team quickly arrived at the location.
A rescue effort including teams from all ULBs and a total of 21 officers and 208 fire men was actively being carried out. 22 boats and other equipment arrived to the scene as soon as they were reported, while other forces’ personnel helped the fire squads. By dawn, 107 dead bodies had been found by search teams from the Fire and Emergency Services utilising fire boats as they had continued their search and rescue operations throughout the whole night. The Rajkot Municipal Corporation deployed a weed-removal machine to clear obstructions in search and rescue operations.
The administration has been ordered to treat the injured right away. According to accounts, multiple people have been hurt. Teams of defence/paramilitary forces swiftly transported casualties from the scene of the incident to an ambulance. After that, ambulances transported injured people to several nearby hospitals. Several women and children were on the hanging bridge when it collapsed, according to eyewitnesses.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the scene of the incident on Tuesday and inspected the ongoing search and rescue efforts two days after this horrifying incident in Morbi, Gujarat. The injured patients at the Morbi Civil Hospital were also met by him.
In order to assess the situation, PM Modi also presided over a high-level meeting. He reportedly stated that it is urgently necessary to conduct a “deep and exhaustive” investigation to determine all factors related to the catastrophe, and that the most important lessons from this must be put into practice right away. The afflicted families must also be contacted by the authorities, who must provide them with all available assistance, he continued.
