India suspension bridge collapsed, plunging festival crowd into river

Around 130 people were killed on Sunday after a suspension pedestrian bridge that crosses through the Machchhu River, Gujarat, the Western state of India. The casualties grew significantly as many tourists flocked to the bridge to enjoy Diwali, India’s biggest Hindu festival that takes place every year in October and November.

The cables supporting the bridge snapped on Sunday afternoon, plunging people on the bridge into the river below, among whom at least 132 died. The Indian media NDTV reported that the bridge couldn’t afford the weight as people thronged to the bridge. At the moment of the tragedy, more than 400 tourists were allegedly around the site, including some 200 people crossing the bridge.

The rescue authorities said that most victims were children, women, and older people. Prateek Vasava, who managed to swim to the riverbank after falling from the bridge, said to the local media that children who fell into the river couldn’t make themselves out or were swept away.

The 230-meter-long pedestrian bridge was built by connecting cables to wooden boards in the 1880s under the U.K.’s colonial past. It collapsed four days after it was reopened to the public on Wednesday, after seven months of renovation work. NDTV said that the bridge significantly shook a day before the tragedy.


abro@donga.com