Tragedy in India: At 130 dead from the collapse of the bridge – “People fell on each other”

A dark day for India after the collapse of the footbridge over the Machu River, with the death toll reaching 130. Authorities estimate that around 500 people, including many women and children, were participating in the Diwali religious festival on the bridge and around her when the cables holding her gave wayas night fell.

“The death toll so far stands at 130,” Rahul Tripathi, a police officer in Morbi, where the disaster unfolded, told AFP, adding that about 15 other people have been admitted to hospitals.

For his part, NK Machar, a local official, told Reuters news agency that the death toll had “increased to 132”.

Accidents on aging and poorly maintained infrastructure are common in India, especially on bridges.

In 2016, the collapse of an elevated footbridge over a busy road in the city of Kolkata (East) claimed the lives of at least 26 people.

In 2011, at least 32 people died when the bridge they were on collapsed during a religious festival in northeastern India, about 30 kilometers from the city of Darjeeling.

Less than a week later, around 30 more people died in the collapse of a footbridge connecting the two banks of a river in the state of Arunachal Pradesh (northeast).

In 2006, at least 34 people were killed when a bridge built 150 years earlier collapsed on an express passenger train at a station in Bihar state (east).