Video Producer: Aparna Singh
Video Editor: Mohd. Irshad Alam
In light of the Morbi bridge tragedy that has killed at least 135 people, a First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against the hanging bridge repair agency, its management, and any person whose name is disclosed in the investigation.
It has been lodged under the following IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections:
Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder)
Section 308 (intentional act causing death)
Section 114 (abettor present when offence committed)
The police have not identified any accused, but three people have been taken in for questioning.
Lapses in repair work, maintenance and mismanagement, and other technical issues were cited as the reasons in the FIR for the collapse of the bridge, according to the Gujarat Police.
The FIR was filed by Morbi B Division Police Inspector Prakashbhai Dekavadiya.
The bridge that collapsed had been under renovation for the last seven months, and had been reopened to the public on 26 October – on the occasion of Gujarati New Year.
The state information department said that apart from local rescue teams, five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), six platoons of State Disaster Response Force, a team of the Air Force, two teams of the Army and the Indian Navy each were involved in rescue operations throughout the night.
While the state government will provide Rs 4 lakh to the family of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured, the PMO also announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured persons.
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