Gujarat bridge tragedy: Search and recovery operations end, death toll 135

The Gujarat government on Thursday called off the five-day-long search operation launched after the collapse of a British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi town of Gujarat and the death toll remained unchanged at 135.

State Commissioner of Relief Harshad Patel visited Morbi, located around 300 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, and announced the end of the ongoing search operation, launched on Sunday evening soon after the suspension bridge came crashing down, said an official release. Patel chaired a meeting with heads of various agencies involved in the search and rescue operation and took a call to end the operation after reviewing the situation, it said. However, as a precautionary measure, one team each of the local fire brigade, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will remain stationed at the accident site until further orders, said the release. Notably, personnel from the Indian Army, the Navy, the .