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The death toll in the Padra’s Gambhira bridge collapse has increased to 18.
Initial reports suggested that the accident occurred during peak morning hours when vehicular traffic was significant in the area.
On Thursday, five more bodies were recovered from the river, raising the death toll to 18 from 13.
While two bodies were recovered near the Gambhira bridge, another body was found near Dabka village, swept away by the flow.
NDRF, SDRF, Fire Brigade, and 10 other agencies are carrying out the rescue efforts.
Two persons including Raiji Parmar (resident of Borsad) and Sukhbhai Vagadiya (resident of Panchmahal) have been missing since the incident.
According to the District Collector Anil Dhameliya, several challenges were faced during the rescue operations, especially due to the thick mud and sludge, which limited aerial support such as helicopters.
Helicopters can only lift up to five tons, whereas the situation required lifting up to 150 tons on-site. To tackle this challenge, coordination was established with the Indian Air Force and the State Emergency Operation Center teams.
The rescue team used a pulley system along with equipment like Hitachi machines, bulldozers, and high-performance army trucks.
After deciding to pour weight-mix equivalent to three dumpers into the river, a heavy truck was successfully pulled out from the mud using the pulley system.
A dead body was also recovered from underneath the truck. Efforts are ongoing to extract the other vehicles trapped in the river mud.