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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 evening, killing over 130, including 47 children. The youngest was a two-year-old child.
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.
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, after taking seven months for the repairs.
Nine people have been arrested, Gujarat Police sources said. A police complaint, or First Information Report (FIR), has been filed against those responsible for the Gujarat bridge tragedy.
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, up to Rs 17 per person.
The watchmaker reportedly outsourced the "technical aspect of the renovation" to a smaller construction company, Devprakash Solutions.
Footage from just before the collapse showed a group of people taking photos while others tried to sway the bridge before they tumbled into the river as the metal cables gave way.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in his home state 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.
Morbi municipal body chief Sandeepsinh Zala said Oreva did not inform the authorities about reopening the bridge and the company had not been issued a fitness certificate to do so. Oreva officials haven't responded to the allegation.
"If people act responsibly without damaging the property, this renovation can sustain for the next 15 years," Jaysukhbhai Patel, the Managing Director of Oreva group, had told reporters on October 24, days before the official reopening of the bridge.
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