Continuing their operation amid heavy rains, the search teams from various Central and State agencies on Friday recovered nine more bodies, taking the total number of bodies fished out of the bed of Savithri River since Tuesday’s Mahad bridge collapse to 22.
On a day when the level of the already swollen Savithri River rose by three feet owing to the continued rains, Navy divers recovered a part of the wreckage of a Tavera and a mangled part of a bus, which were among at least six private vehicles and two State Transport buses that plunged into the river minutes after the British-era bridge collapsed.
Confirming that 22 bodies had been recovered from the Savithri riverbed so far, Raigad district's Collector Sheetal Teli-Ugale said, "Till now we have recovered and identified 22 bodies.”
As many as 42 people had gone missing on Tuesday night after the collapse of the old bridge that connects Mahad town with Poladpur. The dilapidated bridge, constructed in 1928, caved in at 11.30 pm on Tuesday, following heavy rains and flooding in the Savithri river.
Teams belonging to the Navy, Coast Guard and National Disaster Response Force personnel, that had suspended their search operation on Thursday owing to poor light, resumed their operations on Friday morning. They had recovered 13 bodies till Thursday evening.
The search teams will continue their operation on Saturday.