Pune, June 15 (IANS) Several people, mostly tourists, were missing and feared drowned as a bridge they were crossing collapsed in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Sunday.

The bridge over the Indrayani River at Kundamala in Pune’s Maval taluka suddenly collapsed, sending at least 25–30 tourists plunging into the water and being swept away.

According to NDTV, at least six tourists had drowned and several others are feared to have to have drowned. Eight people have been rescued so far, and two women are still stuck under the bridge, it reported.

Visuals from the scene show sections of the bridge, mostly directly over the waters, have broken down and fallen into the river while rescue personnel from various agencies worked to locate and rescue the victims.

Raised water levels, due to heavy rains in the region, exacerbated the disaster. Maval has been recording heavy rains in the previous two days, causing the Indrayani River to be in spate.

Police, fire brigade, and NDRF teams rushed to the site and launched a rescue operation

Kundmala is a popular tourist destination that sees high footfall during monsoons. The footfall was higher as it was a Sunday, and there were reports that the old bridge was overcrowded when the accident occurred.

–IANS

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