Bridge Collapses In India, Kills Over 130 People

More than 130 people lost their lives in India when a colonial-era pedestrian bridge packed with revellers collapsed into the river below, police made this known on Monday.

Authorities disclosed that nearly 500 people were celebrating the last day of the Diwali festival on and around the nearly 150-year-old suspension bridge in Morbi when supporting cables snapped after dark on Sunday.

CCTV footage showed the structure in the western state of Gujarat swaying — with a few people apparently deliberately rocking it — before it suddenly gave way.

The walkway and one fence crashed into the river, leaving the other side dangling in mid-air and hundreds of people in the water.

“I saw the bridge collapse before my eyes,” said one witness who worked all night on rescue efforts, without giving his name.

“It was traumatic when a woman showed me a photo of her daughter and asked if I had rescued her. I could not tell her that her daughter had died.”

Another witness named Supran said the bridge was “jam-packed”.

“The cables snapped and the bridge came down in a split second. People fell on each other and into the river,” he told local media.