22 feared dead as bridge collapses in western India

Heavy rains hampered the search for the missing people and vehicles. Teams of disaster management force has joined the Coast Guard and other agencies engaged in rescue and relief operations.

Television footage showed large chunks of the British-colonial era bridge had fallen into the rain-swollen Savitri river. More updates of the incident are as follows. “Directives have been issued to conduct structural audit of old bridges”, he said, adding that a preliminary structural audit will also be conducted. Despite this, an officer certified in May that the bridge was good for traffic. The bridge which was collapsed was about 5km from the town of Mahad in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. The collapsing of the vehicle has led to washing away of few private vehicles including the bus with the passengers, two drivers, and two conductors.

Raigad superintendent of police Suvez Haque and Ugale visited the spot where the bridge once stood. “The exact number of the missing is not known and we are verifying CCTV footages of the toll posts on the highway beyond Mahad”. Eight people in a Chevrolet Tavera were also said to be missing.

“As per initial information, some vehicles and people have been swept away”.

At least 22 people are missing and feared dead after a bridge collapse sent two buses plunging into the flooded Savitri River in western India Tuesday.

“The bridge was built during the British era”. Maharashtra’s public works department minister Chandrakant Patil said in May this year that a team from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had inspected the old bridge and certified it “safe” for traffic.

“Also, we have kept two teams in Mumbai and two teams in Pune in stand by mode, and they would be roped in as and when needed”, he said. In the mean time, a 45-part National Disaster Response Force group has achieved Raigad from Pune to help with the salvage operations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Fadnavis on Wednesday and was briefed about the bridge collapse.

A search operation have been initiated, Ugale said.

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