Padra (Gujarat) [India], July 11 : The death toll in the Gambhira bridge collapse incident in Gujarat's Vadodara has risen to 18 with the recovery of more bodies, an official said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya said that the rescue and recovery operation is still going on to find the two missing people and remove the debris from the incident spot.
A section of the Gambhira bridge connecting Vadodara and Anand collapsed on July 9 and fell into the Mahisagar river below.
The official noted that the five victims of the incident are undergoing treatment in the hospital and are in stable condition.
Dhameliya said, "...Rescue and recovery operation is going on. Day before yesterday, we recovered 12 bodies, and yesterday, we recovered 6 dead bodies. 5 live victims are undergoing treatment and are stable. The remaining dead bodies are trapped under a slab and efforts are underway to recover them. The driver of the truck which is trapped is also missing, we are trying to find his body. In the middle of the river, there is a 3-4 metre layer of quicksand..."
"Soda ash is being released into the water, which is causing irritation and itching to the rescue team... Our team is working after neutralising it. A tanker of sulphuric acid is trapped inside, so we are making sure it does not get released. The basic objective of today's operation is to retrieve the dead bodies and remove the debris... The death toll stands at 18, and 2 people are still missing..." he stated.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has ordered a high-level inquiry into the recent bridge collapse on the Mujpur-Gambhira bridge connecting Vadodara and Anand.
The Chief Minister has entrusted a team of experts to conduct a detailed investigation and prepare a report on the repairs, inspections, and quality checks carried out on the bridge.
According to the Department of Information, based on the preliminary investigation, four officers have been suspended with immediate effect. NM Naikwala (Executive Engineer), UC Patel (Deputy Executive Engineer), RT Patel (Deputy Executive Engineer) and JV Shah (Assistant Engineer) have been suspended with immediate effect.
The Chief Minister has also directed that thorough inspections be carried out on other bridges in the state to ensure public safety.