The official claimed police personnel were deployed near the bridge on Sunday as well.”Unfortunately, people coming to these areas don’t adhere to warnings and instructions by the police and locals and risk their lives,” he said.The district administration had on Sunday informed that 51 persons were rescued, and 18 of them sustained serious injuries and were admitted to three different three hospitals, while four died in the accident.According to Pune collector Jitendra Dudi, the bridge had been declared unsafe, but 100 people were on it, and most of them were busy taking selfies.”A committee will be formed to probe lapses, if any, on the part of the local administration and to check if standard operating procedures should have been implemented. The incident occurred despite warning signs and an existing order banning large gatherings in the area,” he said.The bridge was declared unfit for vehicular traffic, while a new structure had been proposed for vehicles, Dudi said.Maharashtra Minister of Disaster Management Girish Mahajan, who was at the site monitoring rescue efforts on Sunday, said the bridge collapsed under the weight of a large number of tourists.”The bridge was meant for pedestrians only, and there was a warning board stating that it cannot be used by two-wheelers. It seems people on the bridge did not heed these instructions, which caused the incident,” Mahajan had told reporters.
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