India Bridge Collapse Toll Jumps to 134, Police Detain Nine

Rescuers on boats search in the Machchu river next to a pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Morbi town of western state Gujarat, India, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. (AP)
Rescuers on boats search in the Machchu river next to a pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Morbi town of western state Gujarat, India, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. (AP)
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India Bridge Collapse Toll Jumps to 134, Police Detain Nine

Rescuers on boats search in the Machchu river next to a pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Morbi town of western state Gujarat, India, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. (AP)
Rescuers on boats search in the Machchu river next to a pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Morbi town of western state Gujarat, India, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. (AP)

The death toll from a suspension bridge collapse in India rose to 134 on Monday, including many children, as police detained nine people as part of a criminal investigation into one of the deadliest accidents in the country in the past 10 years.

Footage from just before the collapse showed a group of young men taking photos while others tried to rock the bridge from side to side, before they tumbled into the river below as the cables holding it together gave way.

Police in the western state of Gujarat, where the disaster occurred, told Reuters they had detained nine people after registering a criminal case against unnamed people responsible for the renovation, maintenance and management of the bridge. Senior police official Ashok Yadav said details of the detained people would be revealed later in the day.

Local officials told Reuters that the manager of the bridge, a maker of clocks and electrical items, had not informed the authorities that the bridge would be reopened last week after repairs, adding that no fitness certificate had been issued.

The colonial-era footbridge over the Machchhu River in the center of Morbi town was packed with sightseers enjoying holiday festivities when it collapsed on Sunday evening, plunging people about 10 meters (33 feet) into the river.

Some 400 people had bought tickets to get onto the bridge to celebrate the Diwali and Chhath Puja festivals.

About 35 victims were under 14, according to a list of the deceased seen by Reuters. About 170 people had been rescued by the morning.

"People were hanging from the bridge after the accident, but they slipped and fell into the river when it collapsed," said Raju, an eyewitness who gave only one name. "I could not sleep the entire night as I had helped in the rescue operation. I brought a lot of children to the hospital."

Senior government official NK Muchhar said the death toll had gone up to 134. Another official said at the site that the river's muddy waters were hampering rescue work and that there might be people trapped under the mangled remains of the bridge.

Overcrowding

Gujarat-based electrical appliances maker Oreva group, known for its Ajanta clocks, had been in charge of maintaining the bridge for 15 years, said Sandeepsinh Zala, the chief officer of Morbi municipality.

"They did not give us any information that they were reopening the bridge," Zala said. "We have not issued any fitness certificate to them."

Jayrajsinh Jadeja, a local lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, blamed Oreva for selling tickets without restrictions and said overcrowding led to the bridge collapse.

The bridge was previously maintained by the local municipality, which limited the number of people on the bridge at one time to 20, he said.

An Oreva spokesperson did not answer calls and text messages from Reuters.

The Indian Express newspaper quoted an Oreva spokesperson as saying: "While we are waiting for more information, prima facie, the bridge collapsed as too many people in the mid-section of the bridge were trying to sway it from one way to the other."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former chief minister of Gujarat, expressed his condolences to the victims' families.

"In this hour of grief, the government is with the bereaved families in every manner," he said.

The bridge is 1.25 meters (4.1 feet) wide and spans 233 meters (255 yards) connecting the Darbargadh Palace heritage hotel and the town. It was built in 1877 when India was a British colony.

Opposition politicians in Gujarat, where elections are due by early next year, said the disaster exposed the lack of oversight of infrastructure in the country.

"Not just extremely sad on bridge collapse in Morbi but also very angry. Because it was a tragedy in waiting," Gurdeep Singh Sappal, a member of the Congress party, wrote on Twitter. "For some time now, bridge collapse, roads caving-in, dams breaching are happening quite often."



NKorea Leader: Longest ICBM Test 'Appropriate Military Action' against Enemies

FILE PHOTO: A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location December 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location December 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
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NKorea Leader: Longest ICBM Test 'Appropriate Military Action' against Enemies

FILE PHOTO: A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location December 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location December 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korea said it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday, upgrading what it called the "world's most powerful strategic weapon,” as Seoul warned Pyongyang could get missile technology from Russia for helping with the war in Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was on hand and said the test was a warning to enemies that have been threatening the country's security, KCNA state news agency said.
"The test-fire is an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals, who have intentionally escalated the regional situation and posed a threat to the security of our Republic recently, of our counteraction will," Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA.
The muscle-flexing comes amid a storm of international condemnation and rising alarm over what the U.S. and others say is North Korea's deployment of 11,000 troops to Russia - 3,000 of them close to the western frontlines with Ukraine.
The launch drew swift condemnation from South Korea, Japan and the United States.
A day earlier, Seoul reported signs the North may test-launch an ICBM or conduct a seventh nuclear test around the US presidential election on Tuesday, seeking to draw attention to its growing military prowess.
Shin Seung-ki, head of research on North Korea's military at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said the launch was likely to test improved booster performance of an existing ICBM - possibly with the help of Russia.
"North Korea will want to keep getting help like this, because it saves times and costs while improving performance and upgrading the stability of weapons system," he said.
Having come under pressure over its engagement with Russia, "the intention may be to show that it will not bow to pressure, that it will respond to strength with strength, and also to seek some influence on the US presidential election," Shin added.

The launch early on Thursday was the longest ballistic missile test by the North with a flight-time of 87 minutes, according to South Korea.
KCNA said the test set new records of its missile capabilities.
The missile took off on a sharply lofted trajectory from an area near the North's capital and splashed down about 200 km west of Japan's Okushiri island, off Hokkaido.
It reached an altitude of 7,000 km and flew a distance of 1,000 km, the Japanese government said.

The so-called lofted trajectory of a projectile flying at a sharply raised angle is intended to test its thrust and stability over much shorter distances relative to the designed range, partly for safety and to avoid the political fallout of sending a missile far into the Pacific.

North Korea's last ICBM, dubbed the Hwasong-18, was tested in December last year. Fueled by solid-propellant and fired from a road launcher, it was also launched at a sharply raised angle and flew for 73 minutes, translating to a potential range of 15,000 km on a normal trajectory.
That is a distance that puts anywhere in the mainland United States within range.

Pyongyang's latest test came just hours after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun met in Washington to condemn the North Korean troop deployment in Russia.

Neither Moscow or Pyongyang have directly acknowledged the deployment, but Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia on Wednesday questioned why its allies like North Korea could not help Moscow in its war against Ukraine given Western countries claim the right to help Kyiv.

South Korea said the deployment was a direct threat to its security because the North would gain valuable combat experience in a modern warfare and it will likely be rewarded by Moscow with "technology transfers" in areas such as tactical nuclear weapons, ICBMs, ballistic missile submarines and military reconnaissance satellites.