PM, In Gujarat, Will Visit Site Of Bridge Collapse Tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Gujarat, will visit the Morbi city tomorrow where at least 141 people have died after a British-era bridge collapsed last evening.

Around 500 people, including women and children, were on the suspension bridge when the cables supporting it snapped, sending people crashing into the river below. Many were performing Chhath puja rituals on the 150-year-old bridge in Morbi.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister said that the centre is extending all help to the state.

"I am in Ekta Nagar, but my mind is with the victims of Morbi. Rarely, in my life, would I have experienced such pain. On one hand, there is a pain-riddled heart and on the other hand, there is the path to duty," he said while addressing the people at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat's Kevadia where he paid floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary.

The bridge over Machchhu river in Morbi had been shut for seven months for repairs. It was reopened to the public on October 26, the Gujarati New Year, without a fitness certificate from the civic authorities.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said this morning that a criminal case has been registered and a five-member high-powered committee is probing the bridge collapse. "A case has been registered under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and intentional act causing death against whoever is found responsible," he said.

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the family members of each of those who died in the accident and Rs 50,000 for the injured. The Prime Minister also announced a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the victims.