AHMEDABAD: The death toll in the Gambhira Bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Vadodara district rose to 17 on July 10, a day after the 40-year-old structure caved in, dragging multiple vehicles into the Mahisagar River and severing a key link between Central Gujarat and Saurashtra.
The incident unfolded when two trucks, two pickups, a rickshaw, and several two-wheelers were passing over the aging bridge. In a matter of seconds, the structure gave way, plunging them into the river that flows on both sides of the bridge. 17 people have been confirmed dead, while more than eight were rescued in a overnight operation.
Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya, who is personally supervising the rescue at the site, said, “The death toll stands at 15 as of now. We have already recovered the Eeco car and a pickup van, and we are using heavy mechanical power to extract the trucks. Our search for more dead bodies is intense and ongoing. I am present at the site and overseeing the operations here. A high-level technical team is also inspecting the bridge and figuring out the cause behind the collapse.”
Following the Collector's statement, later in the afternoon, rescue teams recovered two additional bodies, pushing the death toll to 17.
As rescue operations continued into July 10, the despair of families waiting for their missing loved ones deepened. Four people remain untraced, and anxious relatives, desperate for updates, are camped along the riverbank.
Family members have appealed to the administration to deploy Army personnel and helicopters to accelerate the search, but no such deployment has been confirmed yet.
More than 10 agencies, including SDRF, NDRF, and the local fire brigade, have been involved in the rescue and recovery efforts since the incident. By Wednesday morning, three more bodies were pulled from the river. Two have been identified, while the identification process for the third is ongoing.
According to officials, three trucks, a rickshaw, an Eeco van, a pickup truck, and two to three motorcycles are believed to be submerged in the river. There are also concerns that another car may be trapped under one of the fallen trucks, making the recovery process more difficult.
The bridge collapse has not only claimed lives but has also raised serious questions about infrastructure neglect and the safety of ageing public structures in Gujarat. The search for the missing continues amid mounting public anger and grief.