At least 75 people were killed on Sunday in India after an almost 150-year-old colonial-era pedestrian bridge collapsed, sending scores of people tumbling into the river below, IgbereTV reports
Authorities said nearly 500 people including women and children were celebrating a religious festival on and around the suspension bridge in Morbi in western India when cables supporting it snapped soon after dark.
This brought the rickety structure in the western state of Gujarat crashing down into the river, spilling scores of people into the water while others clung desperately to the wreckage.
“Seventy five people have died,” a district civil official told AFP over phone. He said most the victims drowned.
Other unconfirmed media reports put the death toll at around 90.
Brijesh Merja, a minister in the Gujarat government, said more than 80 people have been rescued.
The bridge over the Machchhu river around 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of Gujarat’s main city, Ahmedabad had only re-opened several days earlier after months of repairs.
