- Home minister estimates 200 people were on Morbi bridge when it collapsed.
- PM Modi: Families of victims will receive compensation from Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
After a suspension bridge fell in Gujarat, India, on Sunday, the death toll rose to 134. Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi estimated Monday that 200 people were on the Morbi bridge when it collapsed into the river below on Sunday evening. He said a cable snapped at one end.
CNN reported 30 youngsters as casualties.
Vishal Kanjaria, a Morbi district administrative official, reported 170 rescues. Some are still hospitalized, while others have returned home.
He said Gujarat filed a criminal complaint against the agency that maintained the 19th-century 230-meter bridge, which reopened last week following restorations.
Scene photos Monday showed people gathered on the river Machchhu bank beside the crumpled metal footbridge, which swung at a severe angle into the water, where rescue workers in inflatable dinghies looked for survivors.
Sanghavi said a five-person special investigative committee will investigate the tragedy while hundreds of state and national disaster relief teams and the Indian military search and rescue.
Sanghavi did not indicate how many people were missing during a Monday morning press conference, but social media footage showed scores in the water when the bridge collapsed.
Reuters said that TV images showed individuals grasping the wires and bridge remains as rescuers approached. Some climbed the wreckage to reach the river banks, while others swam.
Later on Monday, senior police official Ashok Yadav said seven of the injured remain hospitalized and 56 have been discharged.
The families of the victims will receive compensation from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, according to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking Monday at a campaign event ahead of a state-level election in Gujarat, Modi said his “heart is filled with love and is with the families of those suffering.”
“The state government has set up a committee to investigate the incident. I assure the people of the country that there will be nothing lacking in the relief and rescue efforts,” Modi said.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said he was heading to Morbi and the state government would provide the equivalent of about $5,000 in compensation per family of the deceased and about $600 each for the injured.
“I express my condolences to the families of the citizens who lost their lives in the tragedy,” he tweeted.
