Vadodara, July 11: The death toll in the Mahisagar river bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Vadodara district climbed to 19 on Friday after one of the injured persons succumbed to injuries at a hospital, officials said.
The search for the two missing persons is still underway, they said.
Several vehicles plunged into the river after a segment of the four-decade-old bridge, connecting Anand and Vadodara districts, collapsed near Gambhira village close to Padra town on Wednesday morning.
“Forty five-year-old Narendrasinh Parmar, a resident of Dahevan, who was one of the five injured persons undergoing treatment at the SSG Hospital died on Friday,” an official said.
Eighteen bodies were recovered till Thursday night, and the operation resumed on the third day with efforts being made by the teams engaged at the site to trace two more persons, who are missing, Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya said.
On Thursday, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel suspended four engineers of the state’s Roads and Buildings Department in connection with the bridge collapse.
State minister Rushikesh Patel visited the site of the tragedy and informed the media that action has been taken on the basis of a preliminary report submitted by a committee set up by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
A high-level probe committee of the state’s roads and buildings department will submit a detailed report in 30 days, he said.
Out of the 7,000 bridges in the state that have been surveyed, the government has identified those that need repairs or require construction of a new one. Action is taken on them accordingly, he said after the visit.
“As per the preliminary report of this investigation committee, it has been recorded that the bridge collapsed due to pedestal and articulation crushing. A detailed report will be given by this committee of the Roads and Buildings Department within 30 days,” he said.
The investigation report with its technical and administrative reasons will be submitted to the CM and other decisions will be taken on the basis of it, he added.
“The state government placed four roads and buildings department officials under suspension,” said Patel who also later visited the injured persons at the SSG Hospital and enquired about their health.
Collector Dhameliya earlier told the media that the primary objective of the ongoing search and rescue operation was to recover a body trapped under a slab in the river, and trace the missing driver of a truck stuck in the water.
A list of eight missing persons was compiled on Thursday, and the bodies of six of them were recovered, he said.
The operation is being carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and other agencies, with locals joining the efforts. (PTI)
