![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/morbi-bridge-collapse-why-so-many-children-died-in-india-tragedy/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/127494163_7c310191-de13-4f1e-b374-371d31d93b9d.jpg&description=Image source, AFPImage caption, Scores of people were plunged into the water in the darkMore than 40% of those who died when a pedestrian bridge snapped and plunged into a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Sunday evening were children, police have told the BBC. Here's why the bridge became a death trap for so many children.Savita Ben lies on a hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.The 24-year-old mother of two girls was injured when the bridge collapsed into the Machchu river in Morbi town. Her two-year-old daughter sleeps peacefully at the foot of her bed, while her five-year-old flits in and out of the room.Savita, who has an injury on the back of her head, can barely speak, so her cousin Nirmala Ben narrates how the family was caught up in the tragic events of last Sunday.Savita was part of a group of three women - which included an aunt visiting from another town - and five children.They purchased the tickets but at the last moment, Savita's five-year-old panicked and refused to get on the bridge "because it was so crowded". Savita stayed back with her children while the others went on. Once they returned, her aunt persuaded Savita to go with her on the bridge."She was reluctant but her aunt raved about the experience so she went, while the third woman waited near the entrance with the children," Nirmala told me.Savita was found by rescuers, clinging on to the wreckage of the bridge. She is in trauma and has not been told yet, but her aunt was among the 135 people who died in Sunday's horror. The family say they are thankful that none of the five children were harmed. But many others weren't so lucky. A senior police official in Morbi town told me that 56 children had died, including 40 who were below 12. At least one of the victims was two years old. Additionally, 32 women were killed.Image source, NarendraModi/TwitterImage caption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Savita Ben in hospitalThe colonial-era Jhulto pul (hanging bridge) - described b){kind=link}
More than 40% of those who died when a pedestrian bridge snapped and plunged into a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Sunday evening were children, police have told the BBC. Here’s why the bridge became a death trap for so many children.
Savita Ben lies on a hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.
The 24-year-old mother of two girls was injured when the bridge collapsed into the Machchu river in Morbi town.
Her two-year-old daughter sleeps peacefully at the foot of her bed, while her five-year-old flits in and out of the room.
Savita, who has an injury on the back of her head, can barely speak, so her cousin Nirmala Ben narrates how the family was caught up in the tragic events of last Sunday.