Goswami said he went to Morbi with his family to enjoy the Diwali holiday.
Morbi:
For Ahmedabad resident Vijay Goswami and members of his family, it was an almost shave as they visited the suspension bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi on Sunday afternoon, but returned halfway through fear. scared after some young men in the crowd started shaking it.
Hours later, their fears were proven correct when a bridge over the Machchhu River, a tourist attraction, collapsed at around 6:30 p.m., killing at least 90 people.
Mr. Goswami said that when he and his family were on the bridge, some young people intentionally shook the bridge, making it difficult for people to walk. He said because he felt the move could be dangerous, he and his family returned without further action on the bridge. He said he even informed the bridge staff about this, but they remained indifferent.
The British-era bridge reopened to the public just four days after it was closed for seven-month renovations.
Goswami said he went to Morbi with his family to enjoy the Diwali holiday.
“There was a very large crowd on the bridge. My family and I were on the bridge when some young people deliberately shook it. People couldn’t stand without any support. Because I had a feeling that it can be dangerous, my family and I came back after walking some distance on the bridge,” Mr. Goswami told reporters after arriving in Ahmedabad.
“Before leaving the venue, I alerted the staff on duty to prevent people from shaking the bridge. However, they were only interested in ticket sales and told us there was no crowd control system. Many hours after we left, our fear he said.
In a video that went viral on social media, some young men were able to kick the ropes of the bridge and shake it to frighten other visitors.
Several children at the site told reporters that family members or their parents were missing after the bridge collapsed.
A 10-year-old boy told reporters: “There was a huge crowd when the bridge suddenly collapsed. I survived by grasping the rope and climbing slowly. But my father and mother are still missing.” .
Mehul Raval, one of the survivors of the tragedy, said there were almost 300 people on the bridge when it collapsed.
Mr. Raval, who was admitted to Morbi civilian hospital, said: “The bridge suddenly tilted while we were on it. Everyone fell. Many people died while many were injured. told reporters from the hospital bed.
A local resident said, “There were almost 300 people on the bridge, which was reopened in a few days. Most of the victims were children, because they came here to enjoy Diwali. many are still alive.”
A large number of people living in different areas of Morbi rushed to help those who fell into the river after the collapse of the bridge.
Another resident said the incident opened the wound of the Machchhu dam tragedy in 1979, when thousands of local residents died in floods.
“All the people living nearby came to the rescue and saved many lives. This was the first major incident for Morbi after the dam failure in 1979. This bridge collapsed due to overcrowding. The rescue work. trouble because of the low light in the evening,” he said.
Former Morbi MLA BJP, Kanti Amrutiya, also joined local rescue teams.
“I pulled many people out alive, but many others died when they were pulled out. Everyone was trying their best to help people,” he said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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