Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday visited Gujarat's Morbi where 136 people were killed after a hanging bridge across the Machchhu river collapsed on Sunday evening. He spent an hour in the Saurashtra town visiting the accident site, meeting the injured at the hospital and holding a meeting at the Police Superintendent’s office.
Earlier, the administration’s move of doing up the civil hospital ahead of Modi's visit had drawn flak from various quarters.
Police detained NCP leader Reshma Patel, who shouted slogans against the prime minister during his visit to the accident site.
Modi was briefed on the mishap and rescue operations by Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi. The prime minister, who spent around ten minutes at one side of the bridge, was flanked by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Gujarat BJP president C.R. Patil.
He later visited the hospital and spoke to the injured undergoing treatment.
No sooner had Modi left the hospital, than a controversy erupted. Former chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela took to social media to share the photograph of one of the injured, Ashwin Adhiyal. The photograph showed that on October 31, Adhiyal had a small bandage on his right leg and on Tuesday there was a long plaster of sorts.
Modi later held a meeting at the SP office and also met members of the ceramic industry. He also met those involved in the rescue and relief operations.
Nine persons have been arrested so far in connection with the accident.
The PM's three-day visit to Gujarat comes to an end on Tuesday.