A Suspension Bridge In India Collapsed With Hundreds Of People On It And At Least 141 People Are Dead

At least 141 people – mostly women, children and the elderly – are dead and many more missing in India after a suspension bridge collapsed into the river on Sunday Oct. 30.

Officials say at least 350 people had been on the 230-meter pedestrian bridge over the Machuchhu River in the city of Morbi in the western state of Gujarat when it collapsed at about 6:40pm local time.

CCTV footage of the moment showed the structure swaying side to side while people gripped onto the netting before the cables holding up the bridge give way, sending people plunging about 10 meters (33 feet) into the water.

“The cables snapped and the bridge came down in a split second. People fell on each other and into the river,” a survivor said, according to the Guardian.

Video footage afterwards showed some people clinging to the cables on the twisted remnants of the bridge, while women and children called out for help from the river.

Officials said about 170 people had been rescued, and about 77 people were taken to the hospital, some with serious injuries.

Search and rescue operations are still continuing.

The bridge, which was built in 1880 during British colonial rule, is a major tourist attraction and had just been reopened to the public for four days, having just undergone seven months of renovations, according to the New York Times.

Local media say the bridge had been over capacity when it snapped, the New York Times reported.

Nine people have been detained by police for questioning over the incident, officials told Reuters.

“My heart is with the victims in Morbi,” prime minister Narendra Modi, who is from Gujarat and was visiting, said on Monday. “I have rarely felt this kind of pain in my life.”

He also said that the government would be providing cash compensation for the families of the victims.