Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat’s Morbi where a suspension bridge over the Machchhu river collapsed on Sunday evening, leading to the death of 141 people. According to the Gujarat Chief Minister Office, PM Modi will visit the site of the tragedy on Tuesday afternoon.
PM Modi is already on a visit to Gujarat. On Monday, the PM participated in the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas celebrations, and paid homage to Sardar Patel at the Statue of Unity at Kevadia. During the emotional speech at the event, the PM said, "I am in Kevadia, but my heart goes out to those who died in the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy."
He said that troupes from across the country had come to Kevadia to perform traditional dances but the programme was cancelled in the wake of the Morbi bridge tragedy.
The Prime Minister also chaired a meeting on Monday night, and asked authorities to extend all possible help to those affected by the tragedy. The meeting took place at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar, and PM Modi was briefed on the relief and rescue operations at the accident site. He emphasised that those affected by the disaster must get all possible assistance.
The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar and Gujarat DGP Ashish Bhatia along with other top officials.
Meanwhile, nine people were arrested in connection with the Morbi bridge collapse. Four of the arrested individuals were from the Oreva group that was responsible for the management of the Morbi suspension bridge. The police have filed a case against the ‘agencies’ responsible for the repairing and maintenance of the Morbi bridge.
Rajkot Range IG Ashok Yadav told the media, “Nine people have been arrested in the Morbi bridge collapse case. They include two managers and two ticket booking clerks of Oreva group that was managing the bridge.”
A video that showed the exact moment the bridge collapsed, captured in the CCTV, went viral on social media. The video showed the bridge with a large number of people, who subsequently fell into the river as the bridge snapped. The Morbi bridge had reopened five days before the incident took place, after it was shut for eight months due to repair work.
Teams of National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Indian Air Force, Army and Navy along with local personnel carried out rescue operations after the incident.
Also read: Morbi bridge collapse: Rajkot IG says 9 arrested under various sections of IPC