As many as nine people were arrested in the Morbi bridge collapse case today, including two managers and two ticket booking clerks of the Oreva group, which managed the suspension bridge that collapsed on Sunday night, killing 134 people.
Rajkot range IG Ashok Yadav told PTI, “Nine people arrested in Morbi bridge collapse case; they include two managers, two ticket booking clerks of Oreva group that was managing bridge.”
Sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code applied to the case.
The more than a century-old bridge, which had just five days prior to its collapse undergone substantial repairs and renovations, was packed with people when it came down on Sunday evening at around 6.30 p.m.
According to eyewitnesses, several women and children were on the “hanging bridge” from the British era when it collapsed, sending them into the lake below.
An eyewitness reported seeing several individuals leap onto the bridge and pull on its large wires, and they speculated that the “massive throng” on it may have caused the bridge to collapse.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the incident site tomorrow.
The Gujarat Chief Minister’s Office announced that Modi would visit Morbi on Tuesday afternoon.
PM Modi meanwhile, paid tribute to those who died in the bridge collapse on Sunday.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Indian Air Force, Army, and Navy joined local personnel in the rescue operations in Morbi, around 300 kilometres from Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat.
