Mexican footbridge collapses during inaugural walk by mayor
Mexico City, Jun 9: The mayor of the Mexican city of Cuernavaca was proudly inaugurating a footbridge over a scenic stream Tuesday when the span collapsed, sending him and about two dozen other people plunging into a gully.
The hanging bridge made of wooden boards and metal chains had recently been remodelled.
Video of the collapse suggested the boards separated from the chains supporting them.
Local officials, including city council members, fell about 10 feet onto rocks and boulders in the streambed.
Mayor Jos Luis Uri stegui later said that some of the people accompanying him on the inaugural walk had been jumping on the bridge, perhaps in an attempt to make it sway.
There were a lot of people jumping. That was reckless, Uri stegui said.
The crush of officials and journalists on the bridge also may have exceeded its planned capacity, the mayor said.
There were more of us than there should have been there, he said.
The Cuernavaca city government said in a statement that four city council members, two other city officials and a local reporter were injured and had to be extracted on stretchers from the gully and were taken to local hospitals.
Uri stegui said none of the injuries were critical, and the worst involved a broken bone or a blow to the head.
Uri stegui himself was taken to a hospital with light injuries, but later spoke to reporters outside.
The Morelos state government said the hanging footbridge was not included in a 340,000 riverwalk construction program that started in 2021 and may have existed prior to that.
Cuernavaca, located just south of Mexico City, has long been a weekend getaway for capital residents due to its abundance of water and balmy climate.
The footbridge was part of a river walk along one of the city's many streams.
Cuernavaca has undergone explosive growth and has largely ignored or polluted many of its waterways. The river walk was intended to be part of a revival of the city's natural attractions.
Footbridge collapse during reopening ceremony in Mexico pic.twitter.com/Kn4X554Ydk
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Gujarat ATS busts illegal alprazolam facility in Rajasthan with local cops; 3 held
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan Police jointly busted an illegal alprazolam-making factory in the neighbouring state and arrested three men with 22 kg of psychotropic substances and the drug, valued at Rs 30 lakh, officials said on Monday.
The accused had rented a pharmaceutical unit to manufacture the drug, prescribed for anxiety and panic disorders, in an industrial area near Bhiwadi town of Rajasthan.
Alprazolam falls under the purview of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act because of its misuse as a psychotropic substance, according to an official release.
Acting on specific inputs, personnel of Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan Police raided the unit on Sunday, leading to the arrest of Anshul Shastri, Akhilesh Maurya, and Krishnakumar Yadav.
Police recovered 5 kg of alprazolam and 17 kg of a mixture of other psychotropic substances used as raw material, taking the total seizure to 22 kg, valued at around Rs 30 lakh, said the release.
The substances were allegedly being manufactured illegally without any authorisation or licence, and were meant for sale in the illicit drug market.
A preliminary investigation suggested that one of the arrested accused, Shastri, was involved in sourcing raw materials required for manufacturing alprazolam through his trading firm, according to the release.
Shastri and his business partner Maurya took a pharma unit in Bhiwadi on rent with the help of Yadav, a chemist versed in the production process, it said.
Rajasthan Police registered an FIR at the Bhiwadi sector-3 police station following the raid under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and are investigating further.
