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"At 11 pm, my uncle told me that his son could not be found. We then started searching for his body... I did not stop working. I told my son to help find the body too. And I continued working," Hussain, a worker at Ram Rahim Charitable Trust and ambulance driver for Morbi's Civil Hospital, told The Quint, the morning after the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat shook the country.
The British-era suspension bridge over the Machchhu river collapsed on Sunday, 30 October, claiming at least 135 lives, including 56 children.
Hussain, who has been working with the hospital for 15 years and has been driving an ambulance for three years, worked all night to relentlessly transport bodies from the accident site to the hospital. It was during his service when he found out that his cousin, Sajid, had also died in the accident.
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 (SDRF), a team of the Air Force, two teams of the Army and the Indian Navy each were involved in rescue operations throughout the night.
Local residents and social workers too, have been putting in their time, money, and sweat into ensuring that maximum number of people can be saved. Indeed, in one video from the night of the incident, one man can be heard screaming that while karyakartas are doing everything they can, more aid is urgently required.
'Cleaned the Blood of Victims' Faces to Make Them Recognisable'
"When I reached the hospital at 6 pm for my duty, I was wondering what was happening. Then people told me about the bridge collapse. I immediately rushed to the spot. We transported as many people we could find and brought them here, both alive and dead. We worked till 3 am and found at least 30 bodies,” said Hussain. Both his sons are employed in the hospital too.
Haseena, a social worker at Morbi's Civil Hospital who also runs her own ambulance service and has worked at the hospital for 12 years, described to The Quint how she started gathering first aid kits as body after body kept coming in to the hospital.
She described how she "cleaned the blood of the victims' faces so that they become recognizable."
"We'd then hand over the body to the police, wrapped in a white cloth," she adds.
"Such an unfortunate incident. I am feeling terrible. I don't want money or anything. I pray to God for this country and its people. People have really come together to work in this rescue operation, from reporters to police officers and disaster relief workers to local residents."
- 01/03
Hussain, a worker at Ram Rahim Charitable Trust and ambulance driver for Morbi's Civil Hospital.
(Photo: The Quint)
- 02/03
Haseena, a social worker at Morbi's Civil Hospital.
(Photo: The Quint)
- 03/03
Milan Prakash, a local resident who runs a business of tiles.
(Photo: The Quint)
Ravi, another social worker, said that he and his team have been working since the tragedy occurred, and have distributed food, water, and juice to all those who had been rescued at the site.
"We have a team working at the hospital as well, and are providing juice to those being treated."
Milan Prakash, a 29-year-old resident who runs a business of tiles, said that local teams and disaster management teams have been collectively working to save people.
"We have many dead bodies, but few people to lift those dead bodies. My team is helping in taking bodies to Civil Hospital. It is a horrible situation,” said Prakash.
Muddy Water and Mangroves Creating Visibility Issue
The Assistant Commandant, Sixth Battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), informed The Quint that the muddy water and the mangrove trees have been creating a visibility issue for the rescue operation. "Daylight is helping due to the natural light, and a lot of the debris has been removed," he added.
The underwater search is still going on.
Kuldeep Raja, a 32-year-old doctor from Morbi who runs a charity, told The Quint that he has been on the site since immediately after the collapse, and that he's been working since Sunday evening.
He too reiterated the light issue, saying that it has caused a lot of problems for local teams' rescue operations before the NDRF had arrived to commence its own operations.
"Maximum people died by drowning", he added.
Morbi Bridge Collapse: What We Know So Far
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.
In light of the tragedy, 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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Morbi on Tuesday, news agency ANI reported. The assembly elections for the state of Gujarat are only weeks away.
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