2 bodies found, dozens missing in Mumbai-Goa highway bridge collapse

August 3, 2016

Raigad (Maharashtra), Aug 3: Two bodies were recovered on Wednesday after more than half the Mumbai-Goa highway bridge collapsed the previous night, plunging around 10 vehicles into the water.

mumbai 2

A multi-agency search operation was launched in the morning after a section of the British era bridge gave way due to heavy rains, leaving at least 22 people missing.

The bridge collapsed around midnight on Tuesday, but vehicles, unable to see the missing section in the dark, fell into the river. Two Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses were among the vehicles, carrying 17 passengers in total.

State authorities fear that victims of the mishap might have been washed into the sea 35 kms away.

Locals found the two male bodies 8 kms downstream from the site of the collapse. State authorities including the Raigad collector and the state public works minister, said the bodies were yet to be identified.

Government agencies, including teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Navy and Indian Coast Guard, began search and rescue operations on Wednesday morning. The collector and police superintendent had arrived to coordinate efforts.

Stalled traffic from the collapsed bridge was diverted to a parallel bridge, the collector said.

Confirming the incident, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted at around 2 am on Tuesday night, saying: “There is no confirmed assessment of the casualties as the area is still very dark.”

He explained that there were two parallel bridges -- an old one constructed during the British era, and new one -- which connected to the Mumbai-Goa highway, both critical links to the road network.

“Primary reason seems to be high pressure caused due to flooding of river Savitri due to heavy rains in catchment of Mahabaleshwar,” ANI reported him as saying.

According to MSRTC?officials, the incident happened around 11:30 pm. They received information of the mishap when a driver of a Mumbai-bound bus saw a state transport bus being swept away in the current and alerted MSRTC control.

“Appearantly two buses, Jaigad-Mumbai and Rajapur-Borivali, are suspected to have washed away in the flood when the bridge collapsed along with some private vehicles. Seventeen passengers, nine and eight each, were travelling in the two buses,”said VV Ratnaparakhi, general manager (traffic), MSRTC.

The corporation has been unable to contact their staff on the buses.

MSRTC is the biggest public transport undertaking in the country with more than 17,000 buses ferrying 60 lakh passengers daily.

Rescue efforts afoot

Ranjitsingh Deol, vice chairman and managing director of MSRTC, said their officials had reached the spot and were assisting the NDRF team and other authorities in search and rescue operations.

Anupam Srivastava, commandant, NDRF (Pune), said, “The first team comprising of 40 men consisting of divers, swimmers, boats and equipment necessary for rescue operations was dispatched at 5 am in the morning. Three more teams -- two from Mumbai and one from Pune, each consisting of 40 men, have been asked to join operations.”

The Coast Guard dispatched a Chetak helicopter for search sorties at about 8:15 am to locate people who were swept away in the river’s current. A Seaking 42C all weather aircraft with diving team is being launched by the Indian Navy, a defence spokesperson said.

Additional superintendent of police (Raigad), Sanjay Patil, said 35 professional divers were combing the area on five boats and two kayaks. He added one helicopter from the coast guard and Navy each had joined the aerial survey.

For information on the missing persons, one may contact the toll free number 1077 or call on 02141 - 222118.

mumbai 5

mumbai 6

mumbai 1

mumbai 3

mumbai 4

Comments

R Ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Aug 2016

Also please take proper action on Gurupr bridge , thats also very old and from british era

Rikaz
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Aug 2016

Government should give priority on maintaining Kulur bridge, that too was built during british time.....please do not save money at the cost of safety of humankind.....

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 5,2024

karkare.jpg

Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Vijay Namdevrao Wadettiwar waded into controversy after he alleged that an RSS-affiliated cop, and not terrorist Ajmal Kasab, killed former state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

In a video statement released on Saturday, the Congress leader alleged that the bullet that killed IPS officer Hemant Karkare did not come from the gun of Ajmal Kasab or any of the other nine Pakistani terrorists involved in the attacks.

Instead, he claimed it came from the weapon of a police officer allegedly "dedicated to" the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Wadettiwar also accused Ujjwal Nikam, the special public prosecutor in the case and a BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai North Central, of suppressing this information, labeling him a "traitor."

He questioned the BJP's decision to nominate Nikam for the Lok Sabha polls, accusing the party of protecting traitors.

“During the probe, key information was out. However, it was suppressed by Ujjwal Nikam, who is a traitor. My question is, why is BJP protecting a traitor and nominating such a person for Lok Sabha polls? By doing this, BJP is protecting traitors," Wadettiwar alleged, Times of India reported.

These allegations drew strong responses from Nikam and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Nikam condemned Wadettiwar's statement as "baseless and irresponsible," expressing pain at the doubts raised over his integrity.

He emphasized the legal steps taken to convict Kasab, calling Wadettiwar's remarks an insult to the victims of the 26/11 attacks.

“What a reckless statement is being made. I am pained by such baseless allegations, raising doubts over my integrity. It clearly reflects the level of electoral politics. I never thought politicians will stoop to such low levels. For political gain? He (Wadettiwar) is insulting not me, but the 166 departed souls and all persons injured in the 26/11 attacks," Nikam said.

He added, “They (Congress) hold Kasab as innocent. Even Pakistan had accepted that Kasab was involved in the conspiracy and in the terror attack on India and was guilty".

He said Indians very well know the legal steps he had taken to ensure Kasab’s conviction.

Nikam said citizens of the nation would on 4 June, the day of results for Lok Sabha polls, give their reply to such allegations, adding he wished not to dignify the “desperate disinformation” with a further response.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Deputy CM Fadnavis said, “Our alliance is with Nikam, while Congress has joined hands with Kasab".

Shiv Sena spokesperson Kiran Pawaskar said NIA should arrest Wadettiwar and ask him why he was defending Kasab.

Pawaskar criticized the Congress for allegedly supporting terrorists and expressed surprise at the silence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on the matter.

“From Wadettiwar’s statement, it appears Congress is supporting terrorists who attacked Mumbai. More shocking is the fact that Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has maintained silence over the episode,” he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 8,2024

flightairindia.jpg

Nearly 80 Air India Express flights were canceled after the cabin crew members went on a "mass sick leave", official sources said on Wednesday.

As many as 79 international and domestic flights were canceled after about 300 senior cabin crew members reported sick at the last minute and switched off their mobile phones.

The Air India Express management is currently trying to reach out to the crew, who are protesting against the new employment term at the Tata Group-owned airline, sources said.

The cabin crew has also alleged that there was a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff after the merger with Tata Group. They claim that some staff members were offered lower job position despite clearing interviews, sources said.

"A section of our cabin crew has reported sick at the last minute, starting last night, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. While we are engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences, our teams are actively addressing this issue to minimise any inconvenience caused to our guests as a result," an Air India Express spokesperson said.

"We sincerely apologise to our guests for this unexpected disruption and emphasise that this situation does not reflect the standard of service we strive to provide," the spokesperson added.

Guests impacted by cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date, the airline said.

Several passengers took to their social media accounts and complained about the sudden cancellations of their flights. They said that they had "no information" about the cancellations.

Some "very disappointed" passengers on X said that they had reached the airport when they were informed that their flights were canceled.

"We apologise for any inconvenience. Please be informed that your flight has been canceled due to operational reasons," Air India Express said in response to one of the posts on X.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 8,2024

sampitroda.jpg

Congress leader Sam Pitroda has stepped down from the post of Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress and his resignation was accepted by the party. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X and announced that Sam Pitroda had decided to resign from the key post "of his own accord".

Pitroda had been under fire over his controversial remark that Indians in the East resemble the Chinese while those in the South look like Africans.

"We could hold together a country as diverse as India -- where people on East look like Chinese, people on West look like Arab, people on North look like maybe White and people in South look like Africans. It doesn't matter. We are all brothers and sisters," Pitroda said during an interview with The Statesman.

The Congress immediately distanced itself from Pitroda's remarks, terming them "unacceptable".

"The analogies drawn by Mr Sam Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India's diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable. The Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies," Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

The BJP also hit out at the Congress over Pitroda's remarks and termed them "racist and divisive".

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.