The Indian Police have arrested nine workers of the company Oreva, in charge of the renovation work of the suspension bridge that collapsed on Sunday in Morbi, in the state of Gurajat, where at least 141 people have died, 47 of them minors.
The arrests have come as the company faces various charges of violating safety regulations and proceeding to reopen the bridge prematurely, which would have led to the tragedy.
Oreva allegedly left the technical aspects of the bridge renovation in the hands of a smaller company with an unknown track record, Devprakash Solutions, according to NDTV television reports.
According to initial reports, Oreva proceeded to reopen the bridge five months ahead of schedule and without the relevant certificate from the authorities, as confirmed by local official Morbi Sandipsinh Zala.
The services of this company were contracted last March and the bridge was reopened only five days ago, on October 26. However, the contract stipulated that the bridge should be closed for at least eight months or a year to carry out maintenance work.
Apparently some of the older cables were not replaced in the bridge renovation, which may have affected its stability, according to sources consulted by NDTV. However, Oreva’s managing director Jaysukhbhai Patel said they had completely refurbished the structure on the opening day and predicted that it would hold up for about a decade.
However, early indications from the investigation are that the bridge was designed to carry the weight of 125 people, far fewer than the 500 believed to have been on the platform at the time of the collapse.
The Gujarat Forensic Laboratory has clarified that more than 500 tickets were sold to access the bridge on Sunday, leading to the overcrowding and subsequent collapse.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Morbi on Tuesday as part of his three-day trip to Gujarat, where he is scheduled to hold several election events. Modi has vowed that he will «leave no ground unturned» in providing response and relief to the survivors, injured and relatives of the victims.
