A section of the four-decade-old Gambhira bridge linking Vadodara and Anand collapsed into the Mahisagar River shortly after 7 a.m. on 9 July, sending roughly five vehicles—including two trucks and two vans—into the water. Authorities have confirmed 20 fatalities and five injured survivors; one person remains unaccounted for. Teams from the National and State Disaster Response Forces, local police and volunteer swimmers have worked continuously to retrieve bodies, lift the wreckage and neutralise hazards such as a sulphuric-acid tanker trapped beneath the slab. Progress has been hampered by quicksand and strong currents, but officials expect to complete the search once water levels recede. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has ordered a high-level probe and suspended four public-works engineers while investigators examine maintenance records and structural failures on the 1980s-era span. Health Minister Rushikesh Patel and Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya, who is directing operations on site, said the preliminary assessment points to excessive load on an ageing structure. As a precaution, the state has shut five additional bridges on the Narmada canal network and begun an accelerated safety audit of other crossings.