Bridge breaks, 21 kids drown

Ten people, including four children, were rescued by fishermen, coast guards and fire brigade personnel from Valsad, Sarigam and Vapi. The bridge collapsed around 1.30 pm, taking down two school rickshaws, a Maruti van and several two-wheelers. Heavy traffic had been banned on the bridge that was last repaired in 2001.

With heavy rains and a high tide, water level in the Damanganga was quite high when the metal portion — spanning almost three-fourth of the bridge’s length — collapsed.

Jay Mukesh Bhatt, among the 12 students in one rickshaw, survived as he was lucky to clutch a helmet and later a tyre before being rescued by the fishermen. ‘‘When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the water,’’ said Bhatt, who is coping with the loss of his friends at the Daman Civil Hospital. Moinnuddin Shaikh, 48, was among the lucky few who survived the tragedy. ‘‘They were all screaming for help; if I had tried to help them, I too would have drowned,’’ he said.

Municipal Councillor Khurshid Manjra was among the angry residents of Daman whose sense of loss was heightened by the slow pace of rescue work. Manjra said the first ambulance arrived after three hours when many bodies had already been fished out. The only other alternative road to reach Moti Daman passes via Kachigam, involving a distance of 15 km. Lack of proper access to Moti Daman also hampered the rescue work, Daman Police said.

The bridge built by the Portuguese was renovated and expanded in 1983. Manjra said while inaugurating the bridge, then Health minister Wilfred Desouza had said the bridge’s life span was 10 years. In 1995, a screening committee had suggested a plan to expand the bridge’s life. Manjra said the committee had given the bridge another 10 years after it was strengthened in 2001 at a cost of Rs 1.6 crore.

The dead in today’s tragedy included Hardika Pravin (9), Abhishek Pravin (11), Salina Imtiyaz (11), Priyanka Dilip Tandel (12), Sana Mohammedali Fadra (7), Akshay Ranjit Tandel (13) and Dholaram Hamtaram (20).