At least 25 people, including 22 school children, were on Thursday killed and eight were missing and presumed dead, when nearly ten vehicles and pedestrians fell into Damanganga river after a dilapidated bridge collapsed due to heavy rains in Daman and Diu.

The children, in the age group of 10 to 15 years, were returning from school when the 100-year-old bridge connecting residential areas of Moti Daman and Nani Daman gave way, official sources said.

At least 25 were injured, eleven seriously. Six of the seriously injured were admitted to a hospital in neighbouring Haria town where 13-year-old Ashok Tandel succumbed.

"We have recovered 24 bodies, of which 21 are of children and three are adult males," Additional Director General of Police (Daman) R P Upadhyay told PTI.

He said the deceased include 12 girls and nine boys and were students of Lady Fatima Convent School in Moti Daman.

"Eight people are still missing and it is feared that they might have been swept away into the Arabian Sea," the official said.

"Rescue operations are now coming to an end as chances of finding more bodies are negligible," Upadhyay added.

Unconfirmed reports, however, put the toll at 30.

A survivor Kaushal Desai, who managed to swim to safety, said, "The bridge collapsed all of a sudden when I had hardly travelled 10 metres on it. I only remember seeing one bus and four other four-wheelers before landing in river below."

Desai told PTI from his home at Valsad, that the two boys clung to him but he managed to swim to the Moti Daman riverbank

Desai, who was hospitalised in an unconscious condition, was discharged after first aid.

Describing the mishap as 'very tragic', Gujarat Governor Kailashpati Mishra expressed deep condolences to the bereaved family members of the victims, who were mostly school children, a Raj Bhavan release said.

Congress MP from Daman Dahyabhai Patel told PTI over phone that Rs one crore that was sanctioned by the central government for repair and renovation of the bridge remained unused. 

The Coast Guard divers are searching for the missing, while a team of naval divers from Mumbai have left for the spot.
 
Daman Mayor Vishal Tandel said a Maruti van and two rickshaws carrying schoolchildren crashed into the river as the bridge collapsed.

President A P J Abdul Kalam in a letter to the administrator of the Union Territory has conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.

At least 20 people 17 of them school children, were killed and 25 injured on Thursday when their vehicles plunged into the Damanganga river when a dilapidated bridge collapsed due to heavy rains in Daman and Diu.

The children in the age group of 10 to 15 were returning from school when the 100-year-old bridge connecting residential areas of Moti Daman and Nani Daman gave way, official sources said.

Unconfirmed reports, however, put the toll at 30.

Six of the seriously injured have been admitted to Haria hospital in neighbouring Vapi town, while five were being shifted to Mumbai. Other injured were receiving treatment at local hospitals in Daman.

Rescue operations were being carried on a war footing, the police said. "Divers from nearby areas have also been pressed into action," they said.

A survivor Kaushal Desai, who managed to swim to safety, said, "The bridge collapsed all of a sudden when I had hardly travelled 10 metres on it. I only remember seeing one bus and four other four-wheelers before landing in river below."

Desai told PTI from his home at Valsad, that the two boys clung to him but he managed to swim to the Moti Daman riverbank

Desai, who was hospitalised in an unconscious condition, was discharged after first aid.

Describing the mishap as 'very tragic', Gujarat Governor Kailashpati Mishra expressed deep condolences to the bereaved family members of the victims, who were mostly school children, a Raj Bhavan release said.

Congress MP from Daman Dahyabhai Patel told PTI over phone that Rs one crore that was sanctioned by the central government for repair and renovation of the bridge remained unused. 

Some reports said a Matador van and a Maruti van, both carrying schoolchildren, are still in the water and some children could have already been washed away to the sea, which is hardly 100 metres from the bridge.
 
The Coast Guard divers are searching for the missing, while a team of naval divers from Mumbai have left for the spot.
 
Daman Mayor Vishal Tandel said a Maruti van and two rickshaws carrying schoolchildren crashed into the river as the bridge collapsed.

President A P J Abdul Kalam in a letter to the administrator of the Union Territory has conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.

The dead include four children of a family.

Even though officials have called off rescue operations large number of people continued to throng the vicinity of the bridge as locals claimed their children were missing.

Nineteen bodies have been handed over to families, while three bodies of children were being kept at a hospital, to be handed over to their parents, who are abroad, official sources said.

Entire Daman was in shock and people were seen outside their residences consoling families who lost their members.

Jagan Kumar Gautam, admitted to Haria hospital, told PTI that he was going on a scooter when the bridge from the Moti Daman side collapsed, and within seconds the centre portion and rest of the bridge plunged into the river.

At the time of collapse a number of school buses were crossing the bridge, he said.

One of the injured, Sharda Fegde, whose condition was said to be critical, was bringing her children back from school when the mishap occurred.

Her two children, who were running ahead when the bridge collapsed, had a miraculous escape.

With inputs from Josy Joseph in New Delhi