MUMBAI, Aug. 5 (UPI) — At least 22 people remain missing after a highway bridge collapsed near Mumbai, sending at least two buses and a car into the swollen Savitri River.
The National Disaster Response Force is using massive magnets to dredge the river to find the missing vehicles. Two state buses with at least 22 people on board were driving across the 50-foot, 1940s-era bridge when it collapsed.
Search teams have recovered at least five bodies, including the body of of one of the bus drivers, identified as Srikant Kamble, and two women.
The bridge, which connects Mahad to Poladpur, was declared safe after a government inspection in May. Official ordered a judicial probe into the collapse.
Officials said they are having difficulties determining the exact number of missing because it is unclear how many vehicles were crossing at the time of the collapse.
“Based on the information shared by one eyewitness, we suspect two buses have been washed away,” Raigad district collector Sheetal Ugale said. “We have appealed to people to come forward if their kin who were supposed to have traveled from this road have not reached their destinations.”
