Over 20 people are missing as two buses have been swept away in swollen Savitri river after a British-era bridge collapsed on the Mumbai-Goa Highway near Mahad in Maharashtra's Raigad district, where the massive search yielded two bodies today.
Rescuers fished out bodies of two men from the river and an intense search is on to trace those missing, Raigad Collector Sheetal Ugale said at the mishap spot, 170 kms from Mumbai.
Two state transport buses with 18 passengers and four crew members (two drivers and two conductors) have gone missing in the tragedy that occurred late last night, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a tweet.
Fadnavis, accompanied by state PWD Minister Chnadrakant Patil and opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Pati, conducted an aerial survey of the area to review the search and rescue operations in progress.
"An eyewitness informed us that he saw a few buses, cars and vehicles being swept away in the river. After corroborating his statement with the State Road Transport Corporation, we found that two of its buses have not reached their destinations and therefore we apprehend that those two buses were the same which were swept away in the river," the district collector said.
Unconfirmed reports, quoting eye witnesses, said some cars have also been washed off after the bridge collapsed.
According to district officials, one of the buses was proceeding to Mumbai from Jaigad in Raigad, and the other was on its way to Borivali from Rajapur.
Four teams of NDRF, comprising of 40 deep divers each have joined the Coast Guard and other agencies engaged in rescue and relief operations.
"As soon as we got information about the tragic incident, we dispatched two teams from Pune and two teams from Mumbai who are searching for missing persons in the swollen river," a NDRF official monitoring the rescue operations, said.
"Also, we have kept two teams in Mumbai and two teams in Pune in stand by mode, and they would be roped in as and when needed," he said.
Fadnavis, who is monitoring the situation, said, "There were two parallel bridges; one is a new bridge and one constructed during the British era. The old one collapsed."
"The primary reason seems to be the high pressure caused due to flooding of river Savitri because of heavy rains in catchment of Mahabaleshwar," he said.
The old bridge, located 4 kms from Mahad is said to have been constructed in 1928 while the new bridge came up in 2001.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Fadnavis and was briefed about the tragedy.
"The PM offered all help in rescue and relief operations," Fadnavis said.
Terming it as one of the biggest search and rescue efforts so far in country, Ugale said, "Two choppers of Navy and Coast Guard are involved in the operation while two choppers of IAF have carried out reconnaissance.
