PM Modi chairs meeting on Morbi bridge collapse at Gujarat Raj Bhavan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired a meeting at the Gujarat Raj Bhavan on the Morbi bridge collapse that has left at least 134 dead. Modi insisted on extending all possible help to families and victims affected by the tragedy.

An official statement confirmed the news: “Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the situation in Morbi at the Raj Bhavan, Gandhinagar”.

The statement further confirmed that Modi was briefed on all aspects of the rescue operations being carried out at Morbi and that all angles related to the tragedy were discussed with the PM.

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Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar, and Gujarat DGP Ashish Bhatia attended the meeting along with other top government officials.

The Prime Minister is currently in Gujarat for Unity Day. After paying tributes to India’s first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, on his birth anniversary at the Statue of Unity at Kevadia in Gujarat, Modi remembered those who died in Sunday’s Morbi bridge collapse incident.

“I am in Kevadia, but my heart goes out to those who died in the Morbi Bridge collapse tragedy,” the PM said as he got emotional.

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Troupes from across country had come to Kevadia to perform traditional dances, but the programme was cancelled due to the present circumstances, he said.

The Prime Minister assured the government was standing shoulder to shoulder with the families of the victims.

The state government has been engaged in the rescue work and the central government is providing every possible assistance, he said. It has also formed a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the causes behind the British-era bridge’s collapse. Nine people have already been arrested in connection with the case.

Mohan Kundariya, a BJP Member of Parliament from Rajkot, Gujarat, has lost 12 members of his family in the incident.