Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Search for 20 feared dead after India bridge collapse. Rescue workers pulled two bodies from the rain-swollen river

Rescuers were searching Wednesday for 20 people missing and feared dead after two buses plunged into a fast-flowing river in western India when a bridge collapsed in torrential monsoon rain, officials said.



Rescue workers pulled two bodies from the rain-swollen river but were still searching for the others feared swept downstream following the accident south of Mumbai overnight on Tuesday.

  • Television footage showed large chunks of the British-colonial era bridge had fallen into the Savitri River, but there was no sign of the vehicles in the water.

The bridge is about 170 kilometres from Mumbai along a major highway connecting India's financial capital with the tourism state of Goa.

"Two bodies have been recovered by rescue agencies. We are trying to ascertain their identities and the (rescue) operations are on," Sanjay Patil, police superintendent of Raigad district where the accident occurred, told AFP.

More than 100 rescuers armed with diving and other specialist equipment were scouring the river, but their efforts were hampered by the fast current and incessant rain.

"The flow of currents is very strong, making it difficult to launch a full-scale search operation. We are looking for vehicles and bodies over a stretch of eight kilometres," disaster management chief O.P Singh told AFP.

"Our team is equipped with deep divers and life-saving equipment," he said.


Since the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses, which started from Mumbai, did not arrive at their scheduled Mahad depot, Ugale appealed people to get in touch with the concerned authorities about their missing relatives. Locals said that around five to six private vehicles were also missing and they were feared to be washed away in the floods.

The ICG has meanwhile pressed Chetak Helicopters into search operations for tracing missing vehicles. Sea king 42C all weather aircraft with diving team has also been pressed into service by the Indian Navy. A massive search operation have been initiated, Ugale confirmed

"The bridge was built during the British era. After discussion with the National Highways Authority, we have shifted traffic to the new parallel bridge nearby. We are trying to confirm reports of other missing vehicles," Ugale said.
[AFP, india.com]
3/8/16

1 comment :

  1. Rescue teams found the dead bodies of 14 people out of the 42 who were missing after the vehicles they were traveling in fell into a river Wednesday after a bridge collapsed due to heavy floods in western India...

    The incident occurred early Wednesday in the Raigad district in Maharashtra and although initial reports said only 22 were missing, later the count was raised to 42 based on information from family members.

    Raigad Deputy Collector, Vagal Satish, told EFE Friday that 14 dead bodies were recovered and provided new details on the missing.

    According to Vagal, the number of people on the two public buses were 26 and not 22 as initially reported, while the remaining 16 were in several private vehicles when the bridge collapsed.....EFE
    5/8/16

    ReplyDelete

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