Video shows people 'deliberately shaking' bridge moments before it snapped, killing 141 in India

A video showing a man shaking the suspension bridge that collapsed in Morbi town of the Indian state of Gujarat, killing 141 people, has made it to social media platforms.

The surveillance footage shows the man deliberately rocking the pedestrian bridge from side to side moments before it collapsed.

The survivors of the tragic incident have also claimed that some miscreants were shaking the cables of the bridge before it snapped, according to the Hindustan Times.

"There was a huge crowd on the bridge. My family and I were on the bridge when some youths started shaking it intentionally. It was impossible for people to stand without holding any support. Since I had a feeling that it may prove dangerous, my family and I came back after covering some distance on the bridge," said Vijay Goswami who managed to escape the tragedy.

"Before leaving the spot, I alerted the on-duty staff to stop people from shaking the bridge. However, they were only interested in selling tickets and told us that there is no system to control the crowd. Hours after we left, our fears turned true as the bridge eventually collapsed," he added.

The bridge on the Machchhu river is a British-era bridge that was shut for 7 months before being reopened on October 26 without a safety clearance.

According to local media reports, the bridge was built in 1880 during the Victorian era by the British, and was seen as an "engineering marvel." Hundreds of people had brought the tickets to get onto the bridge to celebrate the Chhath Puja festival on Sunday. The search and rescue operations are still being carried out by teams from the army, navy, air force and the National Disaster Response Force.

Meanwhile, the state home minister, Harsh Sanghavi, has set up a high-powered committee to probe the incident. A criminal case has also been registered against the agency responsible for its maintenance.