Modi to visit Morbi district in India

• India’s prime minister will visit the site of a bridge collapse.
• It killed over 100 people on Tuesday.
• The colonial-era bridge crumbled into the Machchu river.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Morbi district in Gujarat, where a bridge collapse killed over 100 people in one of India’s worst calamities.

On Sunday, the colonial-era bridge crumbled into the Machchu river.

River rescue operations continued on Tuesday.

Nine people—including bridge maintenance workers—were arrested.

The 19th-century British erected the Machchu river’s 230m (754ft) bridge.

After months of renovations, the “artistic and technological marvel” bridge reopened last week.

The structure fell Sunday at 18:40 India time (13:10 GMT) with several hundred people on it.

Eyewitnesses reported panic as people clung to the debris, waiting for rescuers.

Some managed to swim to the riverbanks, but many were swept away by the fast-moving water.

On Monday, the authorities reported 141 deaths, but then revised that figure to 135, without explanation.

Officials say most victims were women, children, and elderly.

On Monday, disaster response workers and Indian soldiers searched the river in small boats through its filthy waters and mangrove plants for the missing. While grieving family searched, hundreds of neighbors helped.

Rescuers recovered 134 bodies by dusk. Searches began on Tuesday morning with rescue platoons arriving early.

An on-site police official told the BBC that they would search until everyone was found.

Mr. Modi, from Gujarat, was “truly pained by the tragedy”. The state government declared Wednesday a day of mourning.

After doubts regarding safety checks before the bridge reopened, authorities promised a complete investigation.

The bridge’s operator, Oreva Group, employs the nine people arrested, according to police.

Two managers, two ticket clerks, two contractors, and three security officers were negligent, causing the catastrophe.

Senior police officer Ashok Kumar Yadav stated they’re being probed for culpable homicide not murder.

The firm is accused of various failures, including failing to obtain a municipal fitness certificate.

Oreva has ignored collapse inquiries. Some wonder if business executives will be examined.

Morbi, a charming town known for its ceramic industry, was destroyed by the worst national disaster in years.

While searching for survivors on Monday, the city’s two main crematoriums were full. Locals performed funerals for entire families killed in the catastrophe.

On Tuesday, others remained missing.

Siddique, who visited the bridge with his companion, has been searching for him since Sunday night.

“We were standing in the middle of the bridge when it shattered. I clung to a chunk of the damaged bridge and somehow made my way out, but I don’t know where my companion is,” he says.

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