9 Arrested After Bridge Collapses in India, Killing 134

9 Arrested After Bridge Collapses in India, Killing 134
Rescuers on boats search in the Machchu river next to a cable suspension bridge that collapsed in Morbi town of western state Gujarat, India, on Oct. 31, 2022. Ajit Solanki/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

MORBI, India—Police in western India arrested nine people on Monday as they investigated the collapse of a newly repaired 143-year-old suspension bridge in one of the country’s worst accidents in years, officials said. The collapse Sunday evening in Gujarat state plunged hundreds of people into a river, killing at least 134.

As families mourned the dead, attention turned to why the pedestrian bridge, built during British colonialism in the late 1800s and touted by the state’s tourism website as an “artistic and technological marvel,” collapsed and who might be responsible. The bridge had reopened just four days earlier.