Modi seeks detailed inquiry into bridge tragedy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with family members of the victims who lost their lives in the bridge that collapsed over river Machchhu, at Morbi Hospital yesterday. (AFP)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said lessons must be learned as he visited the site of a bridge collapse that killed 135 people and met some of the injured in hospital yesterday.Army, navy and national disaster response force teams continued their search while locals gathered on the banks of the Machchhu river in Modi’s home state of Gujarat.The colonial-era suspension foot bridge in Morbi was packed with sightseers — many in town to celebrate the Diwali and Chhath Puja festivals — when it gave way on Sunday evening, sending people plunging about 10 metres into the water.A senior police official told Reuters that about 200 people were on the bridge when it collapsed. Local municipality officials said tickets for about 400 people had been sold, although not necessarily to be on the bridge at the same time.“The prime minister said the need of the hour is to conduct a detailed and extensive inquiry which will identify all aspects relating to this mishap,” Modi’s office said in a statement as he saw the scene of the disaster.“He also added that the key learnings from the inquiry must be implemented at the earliest.”Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, from the Congress party, said earlier he refused to politicise the incident, but in the capital New Delhi dozens of protesters demanded the resignation of the Gujarat state chief and called for more compensation.“The country is angry today that around 150 people have died in Morbi but this government did nothing apart from shedding crocodile tears,” an unidentified protester shouted. Police detained the crowd within minutes.The protesters called for compensation of Rs2mn ($24,000) for all victims — the injured and the families of those killed. So far the state and central governments have offered Rs600,000 ($7,000) for the kin of those who lost their lives.Local residents at the scene yesterday told Reuters they feared the death toll could rise further.GT Pandya, a senior administrative official in Morbi, said a person who was injured had died from their injuries yesterday, taking the toll to 135. One person was still missing according to the authorities’ estimate, he said.Some 56 people have been discharged from the hospital, while 10 are still admitted with injuries, senior police official Ashok Kumar Yadav told Reuters.