Pedestrian bridge collapses in Mumbai, 5 killed and 36 hurt

New Delhi: A pedestrian bridge connecting a train station with a road collapsed in Mumbai on Thursday, killing at least five people and injuring more than 30, police said.

Police officer Praveen Satpal said 36 injured people were hospitalized, some in serious condition. Some motorists who were driving under the bridge when it collapsed were among the injured, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

An audit of the bridge's safety was carried out last year, said Maharashtra state Education Minister Vinod Tawde. He told reporters that some minor damage was detected and had not been repaired before the collapse of the bridge.

Thousands of commuters have used the 39-year-old bridge daily to reach Mumbai's bustling Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station.

Maharashtra state's top elected leader, Devendra Fadanavis, ordered an inquiry into the collapse of the structure.

In 2017, a stampede broke out on a crowded pedestrian bridge connecting two railway stations in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, killing at least 22 people and injuring 32.

India's public infrastructure projects are substandard and collapse often in part because of corruption that leads to the construction of weak structure foundations and poor maintenance.

Rescuers ended their search operation at the collapsed bridge about two hours after it fell, Satpal said, adding that authorities were sure there was no one trapped because the rubble had been cleared away.