Lagatar24 desk
New Delhi, Oct 31: The cable bridge over the River Machhu in Gujarat’s Morbi snapped due to a heavy rush of people, sources in India’s top forensic laboratory have said. The colonial-era bridge, shut for renovation for seven months, collapsed yesterday, killing 141, reports NDTV.
According to sources, forensic investigators sampled the structure with gas cutters. According to sources, they discovered that the massive influx of people overloaded and compromised the structural integrity of the recently repaired cable bridge.
In the moments before the bridge collapsed, people could be seen taking pictures and attempting to sway the structure before falling into the river as the metal cables gave way, as seen on surveillance footage.
Numerous old videos posted on social media, purportedly from before the reconstruction, also depict a large group of people jumping and running on the bridge in an apparent attempt to deliberately wobble the building for amusement.
The repairs to the century-old bridge were made by the Gujarat-based watchmaker Oreva firm. After seven months of rehabilitation, the bridge was reopened on October 26, the Gujarati New Year.
Ajanta Manufacturing Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the Oreva company, and the Morbi municipal council have a 15-year deal that allows Oreva to maintain the bridge and receive payments in the form of tickets, up to 17 per passenger.
According to reports, the watchmaker hired Devprakash Solutions, a smaller construction firm, to handle the “technical part of the restoration.”
At a rally in his home state of Gujarat, where assembly elections are scheduled for the end of the year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared today that he would “leave no stone unturned” in his efforts to help the victims’ relatives as well as survivors and injured persons.
Sandeepsinh Zala, the head of the Morbi municipal authority, claimed that neither Oreva nor the firm had received a fitness certificate to reopen the bridge. The claim has not received a response from Oreva officials.
Days before the bridge’s formal reopening, on October 24, Jaysukhbhai Patel, the managing director of the Oreva group, had informed reporters that “if people act responsibly without destroying the property, this refurbishment can endure for the next 15 years.”
When the cables on the hanging bridge snapped, hundreds of people fell into the river while there were close to 500 people on it. Only approximately 125 passengers could be supported by the bridge, according to officials.
