Mahad Bridge Collapse: Debris of One of Two Missing Buses Found

Chunks of wreckage were found approximately 170 and 200 meters from the collapsed bridge.

Remaining portion of Mahad-Poladpur bridge in Raigad district. The bridge along the Mumbai-Goa highway was washed away in flood water of Savitri river. (Photo: The Quint)

Eight days after two buses went missing after a bridge in Mahad collapsed along the Mumbai-Goa highway, one of the buses was found.

Additional SP Sanjay Patil said that naval teams located two chunks of bus wreckage, submerged in the River Savitri at Mahad.

So far, 26 bodies have been recovered while nearly 14 are still missing and feared dead, following the collapse of the bridge on 2 August.

The two chunks are seemingly parts of one of the missing buses, and were found in the river, approximately 170 and 200 meters from the collapsed bridge.

The local collector has sent a request for a crane to pull out the remains.

Rescuers are continuing their efforts, braving water currents and crocodile presence in the river, to trace the missing, even as anxious relatives vent their anger over the pace of the search operation.

The Raigad district administration requested the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to shut the gates of Savitri’s backwater dam. The MIDC turned the request down as shutting gates could flood villages in the upper region.

Also Read: Ill-Fated Mahad Bridge Was to Be Pulled Down in December Last Year