Over 200 personnel carried out overnight Morbi rescue ops, says minister| Videos
The Morbi tragedy is reported to have claimed over 130 lives so far while over 170 people have been rescued. Horrific videos showed people falling in the river flowing below as the overcrowded "hanging bridge" crashed within moments on Sunday evening.
More than 200 personnel were deployed overnight to carry out rescue operations shortly after a suspension bridge collapsed in Gujarat's Morbi, the state's home minister has said. The Morbi tragedy is reported to have claimed over 130 lives so far while over 170 people have been rescued. Horrific videos showed people falling in the river flowing below as the overcrowded "hanging bridge" crashed within moments on Sunday evening. "Everyone worked all through the night. (Teams of) Navy, NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), Air Force and Army reached quickly. More than 200 personnel have worked the entire night (for search and rescue operations)," Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
A video shared by the Gujarat Information Department early Monday showed rescue teams evacuating people from the Machchhu river in late hours of Sunday. People were taken to safe spots on boats and several ambulances arrived at the accident site.
On Sunday night, chief minister Bhupendra Patel arrived at the site taking stock of the rescue and relief operations. He also met with the injured at the Morbi Civil Hospital.
A high-level probe has been ordered by authorities. "The chief minister constituted a high power committee yesterday itself while leaving from Ahmedabad. All officers, posted at different locations, were asked to report at Morbi by 2 am. The investigation is going on," the home minister said. An FIR was earlier filed under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (intentional act causing death) and 114 (abettor present when offence committed).
The Gujarat government has announced a compensation of ₹4 lakh for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for those injured in the accident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cancelled his road show in wake of the accident in Morbi with the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) Gujarat cell informing, “The Page Committee Sneh Milan program to be held in the virtual presence of Prime Minister Modi has been postponed.” According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Modi “announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF for the next of kin of each of those who lost their lives in the mishap in Morbi. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000.”
(With inputs from ANI)
