[Daily Beest] Video footage shows pedestrians attempting to sway an Indian suspension bridge in the moments before it catastrophically collapsed, leaving at least 141 people dead as of Monday.Rescuers expect the death toll to continue to rise after the bridge fell apart in the western state of Gujarat on Sunday. The majority of those killed were women, children, or elderly people, a local official told the BBC. Almost 180 people were successfully rescued, however, in an overnight operation involving national and state disaster relief personnel and the Indian military. Rescuers on boats plucked victims from the dark waters around the bridge and ferried them to the river’s muddy banks, where volunteers and soldiers waited with stretchers to receive the living and the dead.
The 754-foot bridge over the Machchu river, which was built during British rule in the 19th century, had only been reopened for four days after months of repairs when the tragic incident occurred.
Video footage of the seconds leading up to the disaster appears to show people attempting to sway the crowded structure as others take photos. The cables on one side of the bridge then snap, plunging the crowd around 33 feet into the water below.