Morbi Suspension Bridge Collapse: 135 Deaths After Reopening

The bridge had been open again for four days. On a Sunday evening during the festive season it was crowded with families, and it fell into the river with them.

What happened

The Julto Pul, a historic suspension footbridge over the Machchhu river in Morbi, Gujarat, was closed for repair and renovation from March 2022. It reopened to visitors on 26 October 2022, around the Gujarati New Year.

On the evening of 30 October 2022, the crowded bridge collapsed into the river. 135 people were killed and 56 injured, according to later official reporting. 3,165 tickets had been sold for the bridge that day, according to figures reported in November 2022. A ticket count is not the same as the number of people on the bridge at the moment it gave way, but it shows how many people were being let on.

Response

Local residents were first into the water. Police, the National Disaster Response Force, the armed forces and divers joined the rescue and the search for bodies.

Police registered a criminal case and began making arrests from 31 October, and the state set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The Gujarat High Court took up the matter, examining the repair contract, maintenance, compensation and accountability. The state dissolved the Morbi municipality in April 2024.

What is known about the cause

The SIT reported its findings to the Gujarat High Court in stages. As reported, it found that:

• At least 22 of the 49 wires in one of the main cables were already corroded and may have broken before the collapse.
• During the repair, old suspenders were welded to new ones, which changed how the bridge behaved, and the main cable and suspenders were not properly tested before the work began.
• A heavier aluminium deck had replaced the old wooden one.
• The repair work was handed to an agency that was not competent and was done without consulting technical experts, and the bridge was not tested before it was opened to the public.
• The maintenance agreement with the Oreva Group had been signed by municipal officials without a resolution of the general board.

In its final report in October 2023, the SIT said there were “serious operational and technical lapses” by the company’s management, and that its managing director and two managers appeared prima facie responsible. Ticketing, crowd control and the bridge’s fitness certification for reopening also became central questions in court.

On 27 January 2023 Gujarat Police filed a charge sheet against ten accused, naming Oreva Group’s managing director as the tenth. On 29 April 2025 the Morbi sessions court rejected the discharge pleas of the managing director and the nine others. As of October 2025, charges had not been framed because of a Gujarat High Court stay, and the trial was expected to begin in June 2026.

What remains unknown

• The outcome of the criminal trial. We could not verify its status after October 2025, and none of the accused has been convicted.
• The bridge’s safe load, and how many people were actually on it when it fell.
• Who formally authorised the reopening, and on what certificate.

Lessons

A repaired structure is not safe until someone competent has tested it and signed for it, and entry has to be capped at what the deck can carry.

• Do not reopen a repaired public bridge without competent design, load testing and a written fitness certificate.
• Cap ticket sales at the bridge’s safe load, and count people entering and leaving in real time.
• Inspect and record cables, anchorages, hangers and deck joints before reopening, and on a fixed schedule after.
• Make it clear who has the authority to reopen, and have that decision checked independently.
• Keep boats, divers and life buoys ready at any crowded river crossing.

If a bridge starts to tilt or crack, move towards the nearest bank at once. If you fall into the water, float on your back with your face clear and hold on to anything that floats. Help others only with a rope, pole or float, not by grabbing them. Once ashore, call 112 and tell rescuers where people went under.

Next time you are at a riverside fair or a viewing point, look before you step on. Stay off any footbridge, jetty or deck that looks overcrowded or sways heavily, never jump or shake a suspension bridge, stop others who do, and keep children close.

Reporting limits

The totals of 135 deaths and 56 injured are from later official reporting; some early reports gave other figures. The 3,165 figure is the number of tickets sold that day, not a headcount on the bridge. The SIT findings are as reported in the news. The ten people charge-sheeted in January 2023 have not been convicted; charges had not been framed as of October 2025, and no later status was verified. News photographs and video stills are linked, not copied.

More on Morbi: see our Morbi fire and emergency safety guide for emergency numbers and the local risks to know.