Authorities continue search operation for 22 persons who remain missing after the bridge collapsed.
A total of 22 persons remain missing when the highway bridge connecting Mumbai City and beach resort state of Goa in Western India collapsed.
Authorities say that the state passenger buses were carrying 22 people — 18 passengers, two conductors and two drivers.
The buses were traversing the bridge when it plunged into the river due to the structural collapse.
Police Officer Sanjay Patil said that they can see no vehicle or survivors in the fallen bridge and heavy rains worsen the already difficult rescue operations. Approximately 80 rescuers, including divers, responded to the emergency call.
He said early reports indicated that at least two buses, traveling on the old bridge, fell into the Savitri river which was flooded by heavy monsoon rains.
It is suspected that the bus was out-powered by the strong current of water due to torrential rains.
“The buses are not traceable within a kilometer of the bridge. Due to downstream current, the buses may have been swept further away,” Rakesh Ranjan of the National Disaster Response Force.
The old bridge that collapsed was built in the 1940s.
Officials said traffic has been diverted to a new bridge in the area.
In March, a flyover under construction in the city of Kolkata (Calcutta) collapsed, killing at least 20 people and injuring nearly 100.
And in 2011, some 32 people died and 132 were injured after a bridge collapsed at a political event in Darjeeling in West Bengal.
Goa is a popular tourist resort. It is one of India’s richest states with a GDP per capita two and a half times that of the country. It was ranked the best placed state by the Eleventh Finance Commission for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best quality of life in India by the National Commission on Population based on the 12 Indicators.
Goa is visited by large numbers of international and domestic tourists each year for its beaches, places of worship and world heritage architecture. It has rich flora and fauna, owing to its location on the Western Ghats range, a biodiversity hot spot.