One more body retrieved, Gujarat bridge collapse toll 20

VADODARA: The toll in Wednesday's Gambhira bridge collapse near Vadodara rose to 20 Friday, with rescuers retrieving one more body from Mahi river and an injured dying in hospital.

A probe panel's preliminary report attributed the collapse to "crushing" of key joints in the 39-year-old bridge, Gujarat govt spokesman Rushikesh Patel said. Six vehicles had plunged into the river after the cave-in.

"The bridge collapsed due to the crushing of the pedestal and articulation joints. The committee will submit a detailed report in 30 days," Rushikesh said Friday. CM Bhupendra Patel had on Thursday suspended four engineers over the collapse. "Govt will not hesitate to take further measures," Rushikesh said.

At the state-run SSG Hospital in Vadodara, a row broke after the sudden death of Narendra Parmar (45), among those lucky to have survived the fall.

"He had no serious injuries, only four stitches above his eyes. Doctors had told us not to give him anything for 24 hours. Later, they told us we could give him juice. We gave him pomegranate juice. Now, they are blaming us for giving him the juice. How does a person who is healthy, talking to people, die by drinking juice?" Narendra's elder brother Siddharaj asked.

Hospital in-charge Dr Hitendra Chavan denied any food restrictions. "We will know exact cause of his death only after the autopsy report," Chavan said.