Search ops resume at Gujarat bridge collapse site to retrieve missing man

Vadodara: The search and rescue operations resumed in the Mahisagar River in Gujarat's Vadodara for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday to retrieve the body of a man still missing since the bridge collapse and to remove vehicles and the main slab of structure that fell into the river. The toll in the tragedy rose to 20 on Friday after one more body was recovered from the river and another injured person died at the hospital while undergoing treatment. One more person is still missing, and efforts to find him resumed on Saturday, Vadodara collector Anil Dhameliya said.

Several vehicles plunged into the river after a segment of the 40-year-old bridge near Gambhira village, connecting Anand and Vadodara districts, collapsed on Wednesday morning. The collector said another focus of the operation on Saturday will be to remove a large chunk of slab that has fallen into the river. "In the next stage of our operation (on Saturday), we will take the help of a technical team to remove the main slab and retrieve the body of the missing person. The Gujarat Pollution Control Board will be roped in to safely extricate the tanker carrying sulphuric acid that has fallen into the river," Dhameliya said. Citing a preliminary probe report, a state minister had on Friday said the collapse was caused by the "crushing of pedestal and articulation joints". Rescuers have been working amid challenging conditions such as 3.5-metre-deep mud, release of soda ash in water and the presence of a tanker containing sulphuric acid. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and other agencies are part of the rescue efforts.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has suspended four engineers of the state's Roads and Buildings Department in connection with the bridge collapse. Minister Rushikesh Patel, who visited the site of the tragedy on Friday, said that the action was taken based on a preliminary report submitted by a committee set up by the chief minister. A high-level probe committee of the state's roads and buildings department will submit a detailed report in 30 days, he said. Out of the 7,000 bridges in the state that have been surveyed, the government has identified those that need repairs or require the construction of new ones. Action is taken on them accordingly, he said after the visit. Gujarat has witnessed six major incidents of bridge collapse since 2021. In December 2021, a slab collapsed during the construction of the Mumatpura flyover on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city. Nobody was injured in the incident. In October 2022, as many as 135 persons were killed when a British-era suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Morbi town collapsed. In June 2023, a newly built bridge on the Mindhola River in the Tapi district collapsed. No one was hurt in the accident. In September 2023, four persons were injured after a portion of an old bridge on the Bhogavo River in Surendranagar district collapsed when a 40-tonne dumper was navigating it near Wadhwan city. In October 2023, two persons sitting in an autorickshaw died after six concrete girders or slabs, which were installed on the pillars of an under-construction bridge near the RTO Circle in Palanpur town of Banaskantha, collapsed. In August 2024, a small bridge on the Bhogavo River connecting Habiyasar village with Chotila town in Surendranagar district collapsed after a sudden rise in water following discharge from an overflowing dam. No casualties were reported in the incident.