Highlights
- Teams of the Army, Navy, Air Force, NDRF and fire brigade conducted overnight search operations
- The development regarding fatalities in the MP's family was confirmed by his personal assistant
- He said 12 members of the family of Kundaria's sister died in the Morbi bridge collapse incident
Morbi cable bridge collapse: Bodies of more than 130 people have so far been fished out from the Machchu river in Gujarat, where a cable bridge collapsed on Sunday. Teams of the Army, Navy, Air Force, NDRF and fire brigade conducted overnight search operations, which are still in continuation.
As the grieving continues, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Rajkot Mohanbhai Kundariya said as many as 12 members of his family have died in the suspension bridge collapse incident.
The development was confirmed by the MP's personal assistant, who said 12 members of the family of Kundaria's sister died in the Morbi bridge collapse incident.
There were five children among the deceased, he said.
Kundariya himself visited the spot in Morbi after the mishap and took stock of the rescue operation.
"It is very saddening. Machinery is present at the spot to pump out the water so that we can figure out the bodies underneath, as there's a lot of silt. I believe the bridge got overloaded and that led to the incident. Many teams engaged in rescue," Kundariya said.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat government on Monday announced that a high-powered committee has been set up to investigate the incident of the collapse of the suspension bridge in the Morbi district of Gujarat.
Briefing mediapersons, Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said, "The death toll in the Morbi hanging bridge collapse incident has gone up to 132. The chief minister has constituted a high power committee yesterday itself while leaving Ahmedabad. All officers, posted at different locations, were asked to report at Morbi by 2 am. The investigation is going on."
The state home minister further informed that a criminal case has been registered in connection with the incident.
"An investigation has begun today under the leadership of Range IGP," Sanghavi said. Everyone worked all through the night. The Navy, NDRF (National Disaster Relief Force), Air Force and Army arrived at the spot quickly. More than 200 persons have worked the entire night for search and rescue operations," Sanghavi said.
Soon after the incident, Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel, Minister of State for Home Affairs Harshbhai Sanghvi, Minister Brijeshbhai Merja, and Minister of State Shri Arvindbhai Raiyani reached the incident spot and personally observed the rescue operations and gave directions.
Besides, rescue teams from other places also arrived at the spot.
Around 40 doctors from various health centres -- Rajkot PDU Hospital and Surendranagar Civil Hospital began emergency treatment of the injured at the Morbi Civil Hospital.
Emergency ambulances from Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh Metropolitan Municipality and Morbi Municipality were running throughout the night to ferry the injured to the hospital.
Several private ambulances were also involved in the rescue operation.
Army team from Surendranagar joined with its three ambulances and equipment, officials said.
(With inputs from ANI)
