Morbi horror: Oreva manager says collapse “act of god”, nine arrested

Amidst reports that the Morbi bridge collapsed due to malpractice and negligence during renovation, nine persons involved in the renovation have been arrested in Gujrat. Among the arrested, four have reportedly been sent to police custody until November 5, while the other five have been sent to judicial custody.

It is reported that two managers of the Oreva Group, the firm that undertook the renovation of the bridge, were two of the four sent to police custody. The other two are said to be fabrication work contractors.

Ticket collectors, bridge repair contractors and three security guards appointed to contain the crowds are all said to also be among the arrested.

One of the Oreva managers, when presented in front of the court, claimed that the collapse was an “act of god.”

Soon after the arrests were made, the Morbi Bar Association as well as the Rajkot bar association announced that no member of either of the legal body would represent the nine arrested in the bridge accident that killed 135 people.

“Nine accused of the Oreva company have been arrested. The Morbi Bar Association & Rajkot Bar Association have decided not to take their case and represent them. Both the Bar Associations have passed this resolution,” said AC Prajapati, a senior advocate with the Morbi Bar Association.

Just four days after its opening, Gujrat’s newly renovated British-era cable bridge collapsed on the Machchhu river in the Morbi area Sunday evening in a catastrophic incident that took about 135 lives as of yet and injured several others.

The 140-year-old bridge caved in at about 6:40 PM on Sunday, at which point there were about 350 people on the bridge, which was well above the capacity. Even though the bridge could only hold 150 continuously moving people, it is reported that around 675 tickets priced at Rs. 12 and Rs.17 were sold.