The suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Gujarat, western India, was reopened just a few days ago.

This "engineering marvel," according to a government website, was closed for seven months for repairs.

There was great interest in the pedestrian bridge built at the end of the 19th century.

It's festival season in India, which peaked last week with the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali.

Some visitors performed rituals on the bridge for the festival of Chhath Puja, dedicated to the sun deity Suya.

Up to 500 people are said to have been on the 1.25 meter wide and 233 meter long bridge at the moment of the accident on Sunday evening, which then collapsed.

According to the broadcaster NDTV, it was only approved for 125 people.

Till Fähnders

Political correspondent for Southeast Asia.

  • Follow I follow

The reasons for the collapse are unclear.

The record is devastating.

At least 141 people died in the accident in the city of Morbi, including 47 children.

The Indian press has made serious allegations against the company contracted to repair the bridge, a watchmaker called Oreva Group.

Accordingly, the company is said to have opened the building without a permit from the authorities.

As the broadcaster NDTV reports, the company had received the right to charge admission to visit the suspension bridge for its service.

A smaller company was commissioned with the actual construction work.

Police arrested nine people in connection with the accident on Monday, including some Oreva employees.

The opposition in New Delhi has called for the establishment of an investigative team to be headed by a senior former judge.

The Oreva Group, the company contracted to maintain the bridge, typically makes electric bikes and wall clocks.

It only took over responsibility for the bridge, which according to the contract should apply for 15 years, this year.

The television broadcaster showed recordings that are said to come from a surveillance camera on the bridge.

It shows visitors standing in the spotlight around 6:30 p.m. in the evening and taking photos.

The bridge seems to swing slightly as some people shift their weight from one foot to the other.

"We are still awaiting further information, but at first glance the bridge collapsed because there were too many people in the central section of the bridge trying to make it swing from side to side," a spokesman for the Oreva Group told The newspaper Indian Express".

Suddenly the cables that hold the pedestrian crossing above the water snap on one side.

People fall a meter into the depths while the bridge collapses beneath them.

People cling to the remains of the bridge

At the end you can only see how the cables and some boundary nets are dangling over the water.

Subsequent images show dozens of people desperately holding on to the remains of the bridge jutting out of the river.

Others try to swim to shore.

"When I got there, 50 to 60 people were hanging from the broken suspension bridge," eyewitness Rameshbhai Jilaria told the BBC.

He pulled around 15 bodies out of the water with a rope.

"Three of the bodies were small children," Jilaria said.

The pictures also show the rescue workers' inflatable boats, which searched the river for survivors during the night and in the morning.

The salvage of the victims was made more difficult by the dirty river water and the partly overgrown river bed.

According to the information, 177 people were saved.

Eyewitnesses also report a loud noise made by the bridge when it collapsed.

"We rushed to the place and started helping people," a man told the BBC.

“First we got the little kids out, then we tried to save the adults with a pole.

We got eight to nine people out of the water and two bodies," he said.

All that remains of the bridge the day after is bent and twisted metal, some boundary nets and the cables hanging in the air.

According to the reports, many women and children are among the dead, but also some migrant workers who worked in factories in the area.

The government and the opposition have expressed their condolences to the relatives.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is already on a trip to his home state of Gujarat, plans to visit the scene of the accident on Tuesday.

His office has also announced compensation for the survivors of the dead, as well as for those injured.

"In this hour of grief, the government stands by the bereaved families in every way possible," Modi said.