Team Herald
CURCHOREM: Search and rescue operations following the collapse of the Curchorem-Sanvordem footbridge were called off on Friday after the body of the youth who had committed suicide was recovered.
The rescue team has recovered three bodies, and with no missing complaint filed at the local police station, the operation was called off.
Earlier on Thursday at around 8.00 pm the body of Basavani Arjun M (36) from Sanguem was recovered. At 2.30 am the body of Ajit Prakash Ekka (30), a native of Jharkhand was retrieved, and in the evening the rescue teams recovered the body of Basayya alias Santosh Sidharamayya Wandal (26) from Kakoda.
According to Deputy Director (Fire) Nitin Raiker, Curchorem Fire Control Room received information from Panjim Control Room on Thursday at around 6.45 pm stating that a person had jumped from the bridge into the Zuari River at Curchorem. “The duty crew immediately reached the spot and started search and rescue operations with the help of an inflatable boat. Around 50 people gathered on the old corroded footbridge to witness the rescue operation. As the bridge could not withstand the weight of the onlookers, it collapsed taking with it 50 people into the river,” Raiker said, adding that their team rescued around 25 persons from drowning.
“Some were rescued by the locals and some managed to reach the shore on their own by swimming. Then they were shifted to Curchorem Primary Health Centre with the help of the police and 108 vehicles,” Raiker added.
As rescue operations by the personnel of Fire and Emergency Services continued, they were joined by teams from Drishti and the Indian Navy. The collapsed portion of the bridge was cut and removed with the help of a crane and after clearing this portion at around 2.30 am on Friday the body of Ekka was traced and handed over to the police.
Later in the day, the Goa Coastal Police team and NDRF team from Pune joined the rescue operation and repeatedly searched in the river up to a distance of around 2 kms from the incident site and at around 5 pm, coastal police succeeded in recovering the body of Wandal.
Speaking to the media, Quepem Deputy Collector Prashant Shirodkar, who was monitoring the rescue operations at the site, said that since the body of a person who had committed suicide was found the rescue operation was called off.
“The rescue team did an extensive search at the spot of the incident and there is not much of a possibility of more bodies in the water. If required we will continue our operation on Saturday,” Shirodkar said.
