At least nine persons died and six were injured after several vehicles fell into the Mahisagar river following the collapse of a bridge in Gujarat’s Vadodara district on Wednesday morning, ANI reported.

The incident took place at about 7.30 am.

The incident took place when a slab between two piers of the 900-metre Gambhira bridge, connecting Vadodara and Anand districts, collapsed, The Hindu reported. The bridge was inaugurated in 1985.

“We are yet to ascertain the identities of the people as we are focusing on the rescue work,” Dhameliya was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Local swimmers, boats and a team of the municipal corporation, the National Disaster Response Force and the police were trying to rescue the persons, the news agency quoted Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya as saying.

The persons injured in the incident were being treated at a Vadodara hospital. Dhameliya said that among the persons rescued, four had suffered minor injuries.

Two trucks, a van, a pickup truck and an auto-rickshaw had fallen into the river, he added.

The collector said that the portion of the bridge that collapsed was not over the deepest part of the river, The Indian Express reported.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said that the road construction department had been ordered to immediately investigate the accident.

“For this, the chief engineer – design and chief engineer – South Gujarat and a team of two other private engineers specialising in pool construction have been instructed to immediately reach the scene and conduct a preliminary investigation into the causes of the bridge collapse and other technical matters and submit a report,” Patel said on social media.

The chief minister also announced that the state government will offer Rs 4 lakh each in compensation to the families of the deceased persons and Rs 50,000 to injured individuals, besides covering their medical treatment expenses.

This is a developing story. It will be updated as new details are available.