Soldiers and emergency personnel found 35 bodies inside a massive pit after a structure built on the site collapsed as a crowd of devout Hindus prayed during a celebration of the god Rama, an official said on Friday.
Nearly 140 rescuers used ropes and ladders to pull the bodies out of the well that had to be pumped out. The narrowness of the access and the remains in the well made rescue work difficult.
Dozens of people fell into the well at the Hindu temple complex in Indore, central Madhya Pradesh state, when the structure collapsed on Thursday and debris fell on them, the head of the agency said. policeman, Makrand Deoskar.
Witnesses said a large crowd of devotees had packed the temple to attend the fire ritual and Hindu celebration.
The structure collapsed because it appeared not to hold the weight of the crowd, said the state's top elected official, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who has ordered an investigation.
"We have recovered 35 bodies so far and the rescue operation is continuing," Ilayaraja T., the district administrator, said on Friday. A team of army rescuers joined the rescue operation on Thursday night.
Chouhan said that 18 people who suffered injuries were rescued and hospitalized. The Temple authorities had stopped using the well years ago and had covered it with the structure.
The Times of India newspaper said rescue efforts intensified on Thursday night after underwater cameras showed bodies floating in the muddy waters of the well.
The mouth of the well was covered several years ago with an iron grill and mosaics. Municipal authorities had ordered temple authorities in January to remove the well cover because it was unsafe and an unauthorized structure, but the warning was ignored, the newspaper said.
Building collapses are common in India due to poor construction and non-compliance with regulations.
In October, a century-old suspension bridge fell into a river in the western state of Gujarat, and the incident, which plunged hundreds of people into the waters, killed at least 132 people in one of the worst accidents ever. in the country in the last decade.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
