Morbi (Gujarat), Oct 31 (IANS): As many as 135 bodies were being recovered, 180 persons were rescued and still many people are feared missing till Monday morning, after a suspension bridge collapsed on the Machhu river in the Morbi town of Gujarat. The search operation is likely to continue for another 24 hours, police said.

Morbi town will voluntarily observe a bandh on Monday to mourn the deaths of people who died in the incident.

Former BJP MLA from Morbi Assembly constituency, Kantilal Amrutiya has told mediapersons on Monday morning that throughout Sunday evening, the search operation was underway as the death toll is estimate to reach 135 after several families are complaining of missing persons.

Nearly 200 jawans from the Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF, local fire brigade teams, and local divers and swimmers have joined the search operation.

Rajkot Collector Arun Mahesh Babu is also camping at Morbi and helping local authorities in search and rescue operations.

He told the media that to reduce water level at the incident site, just a few minutes ago through a limited blast a check dam was demolished. Once the water recedes it will help the search team to search bodies. He estimates that the search operation is likely to continue for the next 24 hours.

Till late Sunday evening, Morbi Government hospital released a list of 70 deceased persons. Local sources said during the evening hours nearly 25 bodies were recovered from the site and 19 persons are being treated at government and private hospitals.