VADODARA: The death toll in the collapse of a bridge over a river in Gujarat's Vadodara district has gone up to 15 with the recovery of four more bodies, officials said on Thursday.
Several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar river after a portion of the four-decade-old bridge collapsed near Gambhira village close to Padra town on Wednesday morning, "With the recovery of four more bodies from the river on Wednesday night, the death toll in the bridge collapse incident has reached 15.
According to Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya, at least three persons were still missing.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were conducting search in the river to locate any survivors or bodies of the victims, he said.
"Teams of the NDRF and SDRF are conducting a search up to 4 kilometres downstream the river. Till now, 15 bodies have been recovered while three persons are still missing, as per the list available with us.
People can call our control room to inform us about other missing persons," Dhameliya told reporters at the site.
He said apart from the three missing persons who have been identified, there can be others because there were no specific details available about the occupants of a car and a mini-truck which were among the vehicles that fell into the river and got stuck in three-metres of mud.
"Rain and a thick layer of mud in the river is making the rescue operation a challenging task because no machine is working in such a situation.
A special bridge is being constructed on the shore to get closer to the drowned vehicles in the middle of the river," the collector said.
A slab of the Gambhira-Mujpur bridge, which connects central Gujarat to the Saurashtra region of the state, collapsed at around 7 am on Wednesday, as per officials.
This caused the vehicles passing through the bridge to plunge into the river.
Five out of the nine rescued persons suffered injuries and were undergoing treatment at the SSG Hospital in Vadodara, said Anand, adding that none of the injured persons was in a critical condition.
A team comprising senior officials of the Roads and Buildings Department arrived here early Thursday morning to conduct a high-level investigation, a government release said.
Search and rescue operation was being carried out in the river by the NDRF and other agencies.
Various officials, including Vadodara Collector Anil Dhamelia, reached the spot early on Thursday and inspected the operation while revenue officials and police teams camped here overnight, said the release.