Navy divers on Thursday spotted the wreckage of the two buses that were washed away in the Savitri River near Mahad after an old bridge collapsed on August 2.
“After working 12-14 hours a day for the last eight days, the Naval teams have located wreckage of the two bus buses submerged in water at Mahad,” a Defence spokesperson said.
“The wreckage seems to be parts of buses and were found approximately 170 and 200 meters from the collapsed bridge.
Spot diving was carried out despite presence of crocodiles, high current and tough conditions in the river.
“The NDRF teams are being informed and crane for recovery of the wreckage is being requested,” the spokesperson said, referring to the National Disaster Response Force.
The navy divers have been searching for the wreckage and survivors since the morning of August 4.
The effort was in response to a request received from the state government for undertaking search along the river for survivors and bodies, the Defence spokesperson said.
So far, 26 bodies have been recovered after two state transport buses and some other vehicles fell in the river following the bridge collapse on Mumbai-Goa Highway near Mahad in Raigad district, about 170km from here, on August 2.
The masonry bridge was to be dismantled in December 2016 as part of Mumbai-Goa Highway expansion project, Maharashtra government said on Wednesday.
Chandrakant Patil, the Public Works Department minister, had said there are about 2,300 bridges in the state, of which 100 odd are from the British era and some from the 17th century.
“All these bridges will be inspected twice every year,” Patil said.
A team from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai is studying the collapsed bridge and is expected to report by the next Cabinet meeting, due on August 23, Patil said on Wednesday.
