“Never Seen Such…”: Cremation, Graveyard Staff on Gujarat Bridge Tragedy

TIL Desk/National/Morbi (Guj.)/ Caretakers of crematoriums and graveyards in Morbi town of Gujarat said they never saw a huge influx of bodies in a short span of time in decades, which they witnessed in the aftermath of the bridge collapse tragedy that claimed 135 lives.

The British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in the town caved in on Sunday evening, plunging people into the water below. Sajid Piludia of Morbi’s biggest graveyard for Sunni Muslims said nearly 40 members of the Muslim community lost their lives in the incident.

“Of them, 25 were buried here and another one at a nearby graveyard on Monday. This was the biggest tragedy after the 1979 Machchhu dam breach incident,” he said. It all happened due to the negligence of the administration, a visibly upset Sajid Piludia said.

Yusuf Samada and Yunus Shaikh, working as grave diggers at that graveyard, said they dug 14 out of the 25 graves from Sunday night till Monday evening to meet the sudden influx of bodies. “This was very unusual for us because we usually dig nearly 20 graves a month,” he said. Bhima Thakor, caretaker of a gas-run crematorium in Morbi town said he performed the last rites of 11 persons on two days – on Monday and Tuesday.