The Indian state government of Gujarat has launched a criminal investigation into the agency tasked with maintaining a historic cable bridge after the popular attraction. crashed on sunday killed more than 130 people under the weight of hundreds of visitors.
State Home Secretary Harsh Sanghavi told reporters that a local company has been investigated under criminal provisions for manslaughter. Built in the late 19th century, the bridge was reopened last week after months of repairs.
Mr. Sanghavi did not name the company. Several Indian news sources reported that a local industrial company known as Oreva was responsible for the maintenance and repairs of the bridge.
Ashok Yadav, a senior official in the Gujarat state police, told reporters late Monday that nine people have been arrested in connection with the investigation into the bridge collapse. Among those arrested are two executives of the Oreva company, two ticket clerks on the collapsed bridge, two bridge repairmen, and three security guards charged with arranging the entrance of people on the bridge. yadav.
Calls to Oreva were not answered on Monday, and emails seeking comment were also not answered.
Mr. Yadav said police could make more arrests as the investigation continues.
“Our effort is to set a strong example throughout this entire process,” he said.
The state disaster management agency said rescue operations continued through Monday, with 170 people being pulled from the waters of the Machchhu river that covers the bridge.
In the videos shared on television channels and social media, it was seen that people in the water tried to climb by holding on to some parts of the collapsed bridge.
The death toll could continue to rise after a suspension bridge collapsed in the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing more than 130 people. The popular tourist attraction was crowded as hundreds of people visited the area to celebrate the holidays, including Diwali. Photo: AP Photo/Ajit Solanki
Tushar Daftary, a local member of the Lions Clubs International community service group, who was among those helping with the rescue operations last night, said many people were visiting their families in the area last week for public holidays, including Diwali and Gujarati New Year. According to Bay, this meant that more people than ever visited the bridge over the weekend. Notebooks.
A local report said some visitors had expressed concerns to ticket agents that some people were shaking the overcrowded bridge.
Videos posted on social media platform Twitter showed the swaying bridge as people walked on it, swarming with visitors, some of whom appeared to be violently swaying the suspension cables. users
Meta Platforms Inc.’s
But in India and outside the country, Facebook was unable to display posts with the hashtag Gujarat for several hours on Monday.
Normally, when users clicked on a page displaying videos, photos, and news about the state or bridge collapse, the message “We keep our community safe” would be written. He added that “posts are temporarily hidden because some content in these posts goes against our Community Standards.”
“The hashtag was accidentally blocked,” a Meta spokesperson said on Tuesday, adding that it has since been restored.
It declined to say what material may have violated the platform’s standards, which does not allow violent and uncensored content, hate speech, and other types of material. India is Facebook’s largest market by users. By the way, videos Halloween fun gets crushed During the weekend in South Korea, the world remained visible through Monday through a hashtag for Seoul.
After The Wall Street Journal asked Facebook for comment on Monday, posts with the hashtag Gujarat became visible again, with the top post and a video from an Indian TV network showing the moment the bridge collapsed.
The state said it would award the families of those killed in the disaster with a reward equivalent to about US$4,900 and compensate the injured. While consolidating his political rise, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has ruled the state for more than a decade, also announced compensation for the victims and expressed his regret.
Tragedy cast a shadow over Mr. Modi’s three-day state visit, which began on Sunday, aimed at showcasing development projects ahead of this year’s elections. The Prime Minister is spearheading renewed pressure to attract more factories to India and create more jobs. Hours before the bridge collapsed, Mr. Modi presided over the start of construction of an aircraft manufacturing facility in the state in partnership with European Airbus SE, hailed as a step towards the country’s goal of becoming a global manufacturing hub.
But India’s efforts to attract more manufacturing and create more jobs have faced challenges, often stemming from the country’s dilapidated infrastructure and concerns over security delays; That’s a concern that’s likely to be exacerbated by Sunday’s disaster.
—Newley Purnell contributed to this article.
write this Works at Krishna Pokharel krishna.pokharel@wsj.com and in Tripti Lahiri tripti.lahiri@wsj.com
Corrections and Amplifications
Harsh Sanghavi is the interior minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. An earlier version of this article misspelled her last name as Sanghvi in the second reference. (Fixed on Nov. 1)
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