Hours after the suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Morbi, Gujarat, collapsed claiming around 135 lives and injuring several other persons, CCTV footage emerged that showed people shaking the bridge, moments before the unfortunate tragedy. The bridge collapsed at around 6:30 pm when around 400 people were on the bridge.
According to the reports, eyewitnesses of the incident stated that a few youngsters were continuously shaking the bridge causing fear in the minds of the other people who were also on the bridge. The bridge collapsed a few minutes after people began returning halfway through the bridge. The CCTV footage of the incident is going viral over the internet showing some people continuously shaking the bridge and playing with the cables of the bridge.
WATCH – Moment of #Morbi bridge collapse caught on camera.#MorbiBridgeCollapse pic.twitter.com/2Knwi8gG2p
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) October 31, 2022
The video shows the bridge a few minutes before it collapsed at around 6:30 pm. Few people in the video can be seen shaking the bridge. Several people who witnessed the tragic accident also confirmed that a few youngsters were continually shaking the bridge but the team of Oreva group, who was given the contract in March this year to renovate and maintain the said bridge, didn’t take any action on those youngsters.
“There was a lot of crowd on the bridge as it was Sunday and was recently reopened on the occasion of Gujarati New Year Day on October 26 this year. I and my family had gone on the bridge on the Machchhu river which is a tourist attraction. A few young people were deliberately shaking the bridge since 3 pm. They were causing damage to the bridge. The bridge was so sensitive and was swaying heavily on even a single person’s push. I could not see any security person stopping the youngsters from shaking the bridge”, one of the eye-witnesses of the incident said to News18 Gujarat.
“Since I had a feeling that it may prove dangerous, my family and I came back after covering some distance on the bridge. Before leaving the spot, I alerted the on-duty staff to stop people from shaking the bridge. However, they were only interested in selling tickets and told us that there was no mechanism to control the crowd. Hours after we came down, our fears turned true as the bridge eventually collapsed,” he added.
One more witness who had visited the bridge just a few hours ago of the #MorbiBridge incident has complained to the admin of the Oreva group that a few youngsters were continually shaking the bridge but team of Oreva group didn’t take any action on those youngsters pic.twitter.com/tXU7iHrrWG
— Vijay Patel🇮🇳 (@vijaygajera) October 30, 2022
Another 10-year-old boy talked to the media to inform them that his parents are still missing since the tragic incident happened. “There was a huge crowd when the bridge suddenly collapsed. I survived because I caught hold of a hanging rope and slowly climbed up. But my father and mother are still missing,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, another old video of some tourists swaying the bridge has appeared on the internet, showing that people who visit the bridge usually shake it to enjoy their walk over the river. The bridge is also fondly called the ‘jhoolta pool’ and is one of the tourist attractions of the state. “Yahi anand hai jhoolta pool ka. Ye bridge ko aise hilao to pura hilta hai. Dar lagta hai. Lekin yahi maja hai (This is what makes this pool interesting. The entire bridge moves dangerously on one single push. But this is fun)”, the vlogger can be heard saying in the video.
This is an old video of someone’s vlog. In this too the boys are shaking the bridge.#MorbiBridgeCollapse #MorbiGujarat #MorbiCableBridge #MorbiTragedy #Morbi_Bridge_Collapse #MorbiNews pic.twitter.com/OtfvXucaa1
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) October 31, 2022
The bridge was closed for operational use about 7 months ago. A private company by the name of Oreva Group (Ajanta Manufacturing Private Limited) was given the contract in March of this year to renovate and maintain the said bridge. The suspension bridge, which is also known as the jhoolta pool, was reopened on the occasion of Gujarati New Year Day on October 26 this year after the completion of the renovation task of the bridge.
However, the Morbi Municipality said that the private firm threw open the bridge to the public without obtaining a fitness certificate from the Municipality. “The bridge was handed over to the contractor to smoothly operate and maintain it for 15 years. The private firm threw the bridge open to visitors without notifying us and therefore, we couldn’t get a safety audit of the bridge conducted. It was opened to the public after the completion of the renovation work. But the local municipality had not yet issued any fitness certificate,” said Chief Officer of Morbi Municipality, Sandeepsinh Zala.
Meanwhile, the Oreva group’s office claimed that the bridge collapsed as too many people in the mid-section of the bridge were trying to sway it from one way to the other. A criminal case has been registered against the contractor under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 114, 304 (culpable homicide), and 308 (attempt to culpable homicide).
According to the reports, the 150-year-old bridge located 300 km from Vadodara could take the weight of only about 125 people but there were around 400 people on the bridge when the incident happened. Many of them were performing Chhath Puja rituals on the bridge. The death toll in the Morbi bridge disaster has risen to 135 from 60 by Monday morning. A total of 180 were successfully rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams.
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for each of those killed in the accident and Rs 50,000 for those injured. The Prime Minister also has announced monetary assistance of Rs. 2 lakh for each of the victims’ families.
