“The question has not been asked. If we were asked the question, we would not stand in the way,“ Baerbock said in an interview on the sides of a French-German cabinet meeting celebrating 60 years of the Elysée treaty.

When asked for clarification by the interviewer if she meant Germany would not stop Poland from sending battle tanks to Ukraine, Baerbock said, “You have understood me correctly.“

“We have rules, the so-called end-use controls,“ Baerbock said of Germany’s hesitancy to send combat tanks into the war zone.

According to Germany’s basic law, “weapons intended for warfare may be manufactured, transported, and marketed only with the authorization of the federal government.“

Under the “War Weapons Control Act“ the German government must consent to any delivery of German-made weapons to a war zone.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz must consent and the final decision rests with him, according to German law.

Scholz has been heavily criticized by his liberal coalition partner and many others for his stance on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

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The Marder is an infantry fighting vehicle used by the German military since the early 1970s but continuously upgraded. While the German military is in the process of phasing the vehicle out, hundreds are still in service.

An infantry fighting vehicle is a heavily armed armored vehicle used to move soldiers around the battlefield. It’s usually deployed together with main battle tanks.

German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Thursday hailed his government’s “logical” decision to send more military aid to Ukraine.

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Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said Monday some 200 people are estimated to have been on the bridge in the town of Morbi when it collapsed into the river below on Sunday evening. A cable at one end appears to have snapped, he added.

The victims include 30 children, district officials told Apadana Media on Monday.

A total of 170 people have been rescued so far, according to Vishal Kanjaria, an administrative official for Morbi district. Some remain in hospital and others have returned home, though an exact breakdown is not yet known.

The state of Gujarat has lodged a criminal complaint against the agency that was handling the maintenance of the 230-meter long bridge, which was built in the 19th century and reopened last week after renovations, he said.

Photos from the scene Monday showed people gathering on the bank of the river Machchhu beside the mangled metal walkway, which hung at a sharp angle into the water, where rescue workers in inflatable dinghies searched for survivors.

A five-person special investigation committee has been established to investigate the incident, Sanghavi said, amid an ongoing search and rescue operation by hundreds of personnel from state and national disaster relief teams and the Indian military.

Indian rescue personnel conduct search operations after a bridge across the river Machchhu collapsed in Morbi, some 220 kms from Ahmedabad, early on October 31, 2022.

Speaking at a news conference in the early hours of Monday, Sanghavi did not say how many people are missing, but social media video showed dozens in the water following the collapse of the bridge.

TV footage showed people holding the cables and remains of the bridge as emergency teams tried to reach them, Reuters reported. Some climbed up the wrecked structure to reach the river banks, while others swam to safety.

Speaking later on Monday, senior police official Ashok Yadav said seven of the injured are still in hospital, while 56 people have been discharged after receiving treatment.

Rescue personnel conduct search operations on October 31, 2022.

The families of the victims will receive compensation from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, according to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking Monday at a campaign event ahead of a state-level election in Gujarat, Modi said his “heart is filled with love and is with the families of those suffering.”

“The state government has set up a committee to investigate the incident. I assure the people of the country that there will be nothing lacking in the relief and rescue efforts,” Modi said.

People gather as rescuers search for survivors after a suspension bridge collapsed in Morbi in the western state of Gujarat, India, October 31, 2022.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said the state government would provide the equivalent of about $5,000 in compensation per family of the deceased and about $600 each for the injured.

“I express my condolences to the families of the citizens who lost their lives in the tragedy,” he tweeted.

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