Police in western India have arrested nine people as they investigate the deadly collapse of a newly-repaired 143-year-old suspension bridge.
The collapse on Sunday evening in the town of Morbi plunged hundreds of people into the Macchu river, killing at least 134 people.
As families mourn the dead, attention has turned to why the pedestrian bridge, built during British colonialism in the late 1800s and touted by the state’s tourism website as an “artistic and technological marvel”, collapsed and who might be responsible.
The bridge had reopened just four days before the collapse.
Inspector-General Ashok Yadav said police have formed a special investigative team, and that those arrested include managers of the bridge’s operator, Oreva Group, and its staff.
“We won’t let the guilty get away, we won’t spare anyone,” Mr Yadav said on Monday.
Gujarat authorities opened a case against Oreva for suspected culpable homicide, attempted culpable homicide and other violations.
In March, the local Morbi town government awarded a 15-year contract to maintain and manage the bridge to Oreva, a group of companies known mainly for making clocks, mosquito zappers and electric bikes.
The same month, Oreva closed the bridge, which spans a wide section of the Machchu river, for repairs.
The bridge has been repaired several times in the past and many of its original parts have been replaced over the years.
It was reopened nearly seven months later on October 26, the first day of the Gujarati New Year, which coincides with the Hindu festival season, and the attraction drew hundreds of sightseers.
Sandeepsinh Zala, a Morbi official, told Indian Express the company reopened the bridge without first obtaining a “fitness certificate”.
That could not be independently verified, but officials are investigating.
Authorities said the structure collapsed under the weight of hundreds of people.
Video of the disaster showed the bridge shaking violently, and people trying to hold on to its cables and metal fencing before the walkway gave way and crashed into the river.
The bridge split in the middle with its walkway hanging down, its cables snapped.
Emergency responders and rescuers worked overnight and throughout Monday to search for survivors.
State minister Harsh Sanghvi said most of the victims were teenagers, women and older people.
At least 177 survivors were pulled from the river.
It is unclear how many people were on the bridge when it collapsed and how many remained missing, but survivors said it was so densely packed that people were unable to quickly escape when its cables began to snap.
Local news channels ran pictures of the missing shared by concerned relatives, and family members raced to overcrowded hospitals searching for their loved ones.
The collapse was Asia’s third major disaster involving large crowds in the past month.
On Saturday, a Halloween crowd surge killed more than 150 people attending festivities in Itaewon, a neighbourhood in Seoul, South Korea.
On October 1, police in Indonesia fired tear gas at a soccer match, causing a crush that killed 132 people as spectators tried to flee.
