Over 140 people died after the cable bridge in Gujarat collapsed yesterdayNew Delhi: The cable bridge over the River Machhu in Gujarat’s Morbi snapped due to a heavy rush of people, sources in India’s top forensic laboratory have said. The colonial-era bridge, shut for renovation for seven months, collapsed yesterday, killing 141.Forensics officers used gas cutters to collect samples of the structure, sources said. They found that the huge rush of people overloaded and weakened the structural integrity of the just-renovated cable bridge, sources said.Different old videos on social media, reportedly taken before the renovation, show dozens of people jumping and running on the bridge, in what appears to be a deliberate attempt to sway the structure for fun.Oreva group, a Gujarat-based watchmaker, carried out the repairs on the century-old bridge. It reopened the bridge on October 26, the Gujarati New Year.A 15-year contract between the Morbi municipal body and Ajanta Manufacturing Pvt Ltd, which is a part of Oreva group, allows Oreva to maintain the bridge and collect payment in the form of tickets.The watchmaker reportedly outsourced the “technical aspect of the renovation” to a smaller construction company, Devprakash Solutions.Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Gujarat, where assembly elections are due by the year-end, today said he will “leave no stone unturned” to provide relief to the survivors, injured people and families of those who died in the tragedy.
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