<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>There was an unusual rush at Machchhu river in Gujarat’s Morbi district on Sunday evening on the occasion of Chhath Puja. As the banks got crowded, people started assembling over the 140-year-old bridge to watch the immersion of idols in the river.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">he entry to the 765-meter-long bridge, which was opened for public on October 26 by Jaysukh Patel, managing director of Oreva Group that got the bridge repaired, was from the Morbi town side and exit from the other.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">“Normally, people walk through the bridge and exit from the other side. Whenever the security personnel see people standing on the bridge and there is a rush, ticket issuing is stopped,” said a person who identified himself as Suleman.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That did not happen on Sunday, locals said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to officials, around 220 tickets were issued from the ticket counter but many more people entered as the lone security guard failed to stop the people from entering. “Many others entered without a ticket,” said a Morbi municipal authority official, quoting a preliminary inquiry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At about 6.15pm, there were close to 400 to 450 people on the bridge. “Some of them were standing and a few youngsters were jumping and making the bridge swing. The bridge was swinging and making a lot of noise,” said a construction worker, Ajay Kumar, 32, who is from Banaras.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another local, who did not give his name, said that at about 6.40pm, the iron cables, on which the bridge was suspended, caved in from the middle . “People fell over each other and some of them got thrown into the river. Some who were on the sides of the 4.5-meter-wide bridge saved themselves by holding the railings,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Locals said there was total chaos all around as the lighting system on the bridge also collapsed and nothing was visible. People were crying and loud screams for help could be heard.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We were sitting near our houses and my friend was telling me that the bridge looks overcrowded. Suddenly we heard screams for help and we ran to the bridge,” said Pankaj Kumar, 24, who works as a carpenter at the local Swaminarayan temple. There were many people hanging, many struggling in the river, their screams piercing the night that seemed like forever, he recalled.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We were able to rescue 30-35 persons hanging from the bridge,” he said. “The police and other rescue workers came about half an hour after the incident. Three children under eight years of age died despite our best efforts to save them,” he said. However, Kumar was able to save a child in an ambulance by giving him mouth to mouth respiration. HT</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>