Two state transport buses with 18 passengers and four crew members had gone missing in the Mahad tragedy, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said in a tweet.
The buses include one travelling between Jaigad-Mumbai and another between Rajapur-Borivali.
Teams of rescuers including navy divers have been searching the river using a chopper, aircraft and inflatable dinghies but they have been severely challenged by the strong currents. A boat carrying National Disaster Response Force personnel capsized on Thursday morning. The divers had to be rescued by a chopper. On Wednesday, even elite marine commandos or MARCOS found the current too strong to risk diving into the river.
Intense search is on to trace those missing. No debris of any vehicles has been found as yet by a team of 100 rescue officials whose work is being impeded by heavy rain. A 300 kg magnet was lowered into the 40-foot deep river to trace the buses. "Something has got stuck to the magnet and efforts are on to pull it out of the river," a local official told the Press Trust of India.
The body of bus driver SS Kamle was found 100 km downstream from the collapsed bridge, apparently washed away in the fast-moving Savitri river. He was identified by his ID badge.
There were two parallel bridges. One is a new bridge and the one that collapsed was constructed during the British era. The cause seems to be the high pressure caused due to flooding of River Savitri after incessant rain in parts of coastal Konkan, northern and western Maharashtra.
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