Gujarat bridge collapse death toll rises to 21; minister says pedestal and articulation joints crushing led to accident

'As per the preliminary report of this investigation committee, it has been recorded that the bridge collapsed due to pedestal and articulation crushing. A detailed report will be given by this committee of the Roads and Buildings Department within 30 days,' state minister Rushikesh Patel said.

Ahmedabad: The death toll in the Vadodara bridge collapse on Friday reached 21 after rescue teams recovered two more bodies and one of the injured succumbed to injuries in the hospital, officials said.

Meanwhile, Gujarat health minister and government spokesperson Rushikesh Patel said that the "primary investigation has found crushing of pedestal and articulation joints."

Patel, who visited the accident site on Friday, said that a detailed report behind the cause of the accident will be completed in a month. The report will ascertain administrative and technical lapses behind the accident.

"After the order of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the roads and buildings department conducted a high-level investigation and the preliminary report has stated that the bridge collapsed due to the pedestal and articulation crush," Patel said.

On Thursday, the state government had suspended four engineers following the preliminary reports.

The nearly 40-year-old bridge on Mahisagar river, which connects Anand and Vadodara district in central Gujarat to Saurashtra region, snapped on July 9 in which at least four vehicles plunged. The death toll reached 21 with the death of three more persons on Friday.

Gujarat Congress legislative party leader in the state assembly Amit Chavda sought inspection reports and fitness certificates of bridges across the state to be shared in public domain.

Blaming the BJP government over the disaster, he said that despite repeated attempts by a local district panchayat member and others since 2022 to stop the bridge for public use, the government didn't close it. He said that the government must fix accountability of senior officers as well as ministers.