The search operation to trace one man still missing in the bridge collapse incident, in which 20 people have lost their lives, continued in the Mahisagar River in Gujarat's Vadodara district on Sunday, officials said.

Efforts are on to trace Vikram Padhiyar (22), a resident of Narsinghpur village in Anand district and employee of a private company, they said.

Several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar River after a segment of the 40-year-old bridge near Gambhira village, connecting Anand and Vadodara districts, collapsed on Wednesday.

A search to locate Padhiyar on Saturday yielded no result, and attempts were underway to trace him on both the upstream and downstream of the river, an official from the Vadodara district administration said.

He said the rescue teams are conducting searches with rubber boats and other necessary equipment, and the wreckage of the small vehicles was also salvaged.

"Near Mujpur village, where this incident took place, the Mahisagar River flows in both directions. During high tide, the water flows towards the Wahara creek, and during low tide, it flows towards the sea. Hence, searches are being carried out in both directions, upstream and downstream," the official said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and other agencies are involved in the search.

Efforts were also being made to find out if anyone else other than Padhiyar was trapped under the large slab that collapsed and fell into the river, the official said.

Teams from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and Regional Transport Office (RTO) inspected the site on Saturday to help in the police investigation.

Following the accident, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel suspended four engineers from the state Roads and Buildings Department.

Minister Rushikesh Patel has said that a high-level probe committee of the state's roads and buildings department will submit a detailed report in 30 days.

Out of the 7,000 bridges in the state that have been surveyed, the government has identified those that need repairs or require construction of a new one, he has said.

Gujarat has witnessed six incidents of bridge collapse since 2021.

In December 2021, a slab collapsed during the construction of the Mumatpura flyover on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city. Nobody was injured in the incident.

In October 2022, as many as 135 persons were killed when a British-era suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Morbi town collapsed.

In June 2023, a newly built bridge on the Mindhola River in the Tapi district collapsed. No one was hurt in the accident.

In September 2023, four persons were injured after a portion of an old bridge on the Bhogavo River in Surendranagar district collapsed when a 40-tonne dumper was navigating it near Wadhwan city.

In October 2023, two persons sitting in an autorickshaw died after six concrete girders or slabs, which were installed on the pillars of an under-construction bridge near the RTO Circle in Palanpur town of Banaskantha, collapsed.

In August 2024, a small bridge on the Bhogavo River, connecting Habiyasar village with Chotila town in Surendranagar district, collapsed after a sudden rise in water following discharge from an overflowing dam. No casualties were reported in the incident.

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