Gujarat bridge tragedy: Search and recovery operations end, death toll 135

The Gujarat government on Thursday called off the five-day-long search operation launched after the collapse of a British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi town of Gujarat and the death toll remained unchanged at 135.

State Commissioner of Relief Harshad Patel visited Morbi, located around 300 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, and announced the end of the ongoing search operation, launched on Sunday evening soon after the suspension bridge came crashing down, said an official release. Patel chaired a meeting with heads of various agencies involved in the search and rescue operation and took a call to end the operation after reviewing the situation, it said. However, as a precautionary measure, one team each of the local fire brigade, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will remain stationed at the accident site until further orders, said the release. Notably, personnel from the Indian Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the NDRF, the SDRF, the local fire department as well as the police department were deployed to scan the entire river in the area since Sunday night to find survivors as well as bodies using sonar technology and under-water cameras. Inspector General of Rajkot Range, Ashok Kumar Yadav, said no one is missing at present and the death toll remains at 135. He said, "135 persons have lost their lives in the incident and there has been no increase in the toll since yesterday (Wednesday). No one is missing at present as per our records. People who have any information or doubt regarding missing persons can always contact us." So far, police have arrested nine persons in connection with the tragic incident and booked them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).