Vadodara bridge collapse death toll rises to 20; one person still missing
VADODARA, July 11: The deadly bridge collapse on the Mahisagar River in Gujarat’s Vadodara district occurred due to “crushing of pedestal and articulation joints”, a state minister said on Friday, citing a preliminary probe.
As many as 19 people died and four sustained injuries after several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar River after a segment of the 40-year-old bridge connecting Anand and Vadodara districts collapsed near Gambhira village close to Padra town on Wednesday morning.
A search is underway for two more persons.
State Health Minister and government spokesperson Rushikesh Patel visited the site at Mujpur on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, the minister said that officials from the state roads and buildings (R&B) department arrived at the scene soon after the collapse and conducted an investigation on the orders of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
“As per the probe committee’s preliminary report, the bridge collapsed due to the crushing of the pedestal and articulation joints.”
“The committee will submit its detailed report in 30 days, and decisions will be taken based on its findings,” he said.
He said the chief minister on Thursday suspended four officials of the R&B department for “negligence”.
Patel said the search operation in the river is in its final stage, and trapped vehicles have been pulled out of the water body.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat Congress alleged that the BJP government had not taken any action despite a local district panchayat member’s warning in 2022 that the bridge wasn’t in good shape and should be closed for traffic.
Gujarat Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the assembly Amit Chavda demanded that inspection reports and fitness certificates of all bridges in the state be shared in the public domain so that people know which ones are unfit for travel.
DEATH TOLL AT 20
The death toll in the Mahisagar river bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Vadodara district rose to 20 on Friday after an injured man died in hospital and the body of a missing person was found in the river, officials said.
One more person was still missing, and efforts to find him will be resumed on Saturday as the search and rescue operation concluded in the evening, they said.
Citing a preliminary probe report, a state minister said the collapse was caused by the “crushing of pedestal and articulation joints”.
Several vehicles plunged into the river after a segment of the four-decade-old bridge near Gambhira village, connecting Anand and Vadodara districts, collapsed on Wednesday morning.
“On the first day we managed to recover 12 bodies and six on the second day. Today, one victim died unfortunately at the hospital and we managed to retrieve another body,” Vadodara collector Anil Dhamaliya said.
Narendrasinh Parmar (45), resident of resident of Dahevan village, died during treatment at Vadodara’s SSG Hospital.The main focus of the next stage of the operation on Saturday will be removing a large chunk of slab that has fallen into the river, the collector said.
“We will try to remove the main slab with the help of the technical team. Along with that, we will also try to retrieve a person in the missing list.”
“Efforts will also be made to safely remove a tanker carrying sulfuric acid which is still stuck in the water,” he 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.
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 within 30 days,” he said.
“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. (PTI)