Two tourists have died and several others are are feared to have drowned after a bridge built over the Indrayani river in Pune collapsed, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. 32 people have sustained injuries, of whom six are critical.
Sunday’s incident was reported from Kundmala, a popular tourist destination that sees high footfall during monsoons. Scores of tourists were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, fell into the swollen river and some were reportedly swept away.
Police and disaster relief workers, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), reached the spot and rescue work has been started. Six people have been rescued so far.
“As some people have been swept away, a search is being carried out on a war footing. NDRF has been deployed at the spot. The relief work has been immediately accelerated,” Mr Fadnavis wrote in a post in Marathi.
The bridge collapse in Pune rural’s Maval area comes even as an orange alert remains in place for Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, with heavy to very heavy rains expected in the ghat regions. The area had received heavy rains in the last two days.
Residents had reportedly raised concerns about the structural safety of the bridge, which was renovated 4-5 years ago, but many tourists were unaware of the potential danger.
