At least 9 dead after Gujarat bridge collapses, plunging vehicles into river

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Rescuers searching for survivors after a bridge collapsed in the western state of Gujarat on July 9.

PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW DELHI – At least nine people were killed and several others injured after a portion of the Gambhira bridge in Padra town in Gujarat state in western India collapsed on July 9.

A truck and several cars plunged into the Mahisagar river.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi told reporters nine bodies had been recovered and six people rescued.

He said Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has ordered public works teams “to go there and take concrete measures”.

Cabinet Minister Rushikesh Patel, a civil engineer, said the bridge was built in 1985 and had undergone regular maintenance and repairs.

Reacting to the accident, the opposition Congress party alleged in a post on X that the bridge collapse “exposes the rampant corruption carried out in the name of the ‘Gujarat Model’”.

In 2022, more than 140 people were killed after a cable suspension bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi city

collapsed days after its renovation.