At least 81 people were killed, including numerous children, after a bridge collapsed in the Indian state of Gujarat, Reuters reported Sunday, citing local authorities. The abrupt subsidence of the nearly century-old bridge, which was recently renovated, forced hundreds of people into the water below. An exact number of people on the 755-foot-long bridge at the time of its collapse was not immediately clear, with estimates soaring between as few as 150 and as high as 350. A number of children were reported to be among the victims, with emergency crews struggling to rescue people from the fast-moving waters. A man who swam to the riverbank after being thrown into the river told a local news channel that he had wanted to pull younger children to safety, but many had already been “drowned or swept away.”The state’s chief minister, Bhupendra Patel, said he would travel to the city of Morbi to assess the damage. “I express my condolences to the families of the citizens who lost their lives in the tragedy,” Patel tweeted. The victims’ families will receive cash compensation from the country’s national relief fund, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday.
