Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Victims have died as a result the bridge collapsed in Gujarat, west India, on Sunday (30/10) evening, it increased to 120 people. It is one of the deadliest incidents in India in recent years.
“We have found 120 bodies so far. The number of casualties is likely to increase as search operations continue,” said the police chief of the western town of Morbi, Gujarat, India, P .Dekavadiya, Sunday (10/30) evening.
The incident started when the pedestrian bridge over the Machhu River was packed with local tourists who were enjoying the weekend as well as the Diwali holiday.
The 230 meter long bridge was built during the British colonial period in the 19th century and is now over 100 years old. The bridge was closed for renovations for six months and only reopened last week.
The bridge, known as Julto Pool, is a popular site for tourists in the area.
Hundreds of people reportedly filled the Julto pool at the same time and quickly collapsed around 6:40 p.m. local time. Before the incident happened, video circulating on social media showed that the pedestrian bridge was already swaying as it had been crowded with pedestrians since noon.
Besides the old age of the infrastructure, the bridge would have collapsed due to overloading.
One of the eyewitnesses said Reuters that there were many children on deck when the incident occurred.
A survivor of the incident, Prateek Vasava, said he was grateful to have survived after falling into the river and trying to swim to shore. He said many children fell into the river and some were swept away.
“I wanted to take them with me but they had drowned and were swept away,” Vasava said.
Videos circulating on social media showed the mayhem as visitors to the riverbank screamed hysterically as they saw the bridge break and tried to save those who had fallen into the river after dark.
Another video shows people climbing over the remnants of wire netting and rope from the bridge to avoid falling into the river.
Rescuers were dispatched to assist with the rescue efforts which continued into the night.
It is not yet known what caused the bridge to collapse, but local authorities have suggested that one reason was overloading.
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