NEW DELHI — Officials announced Friday that 35 bodies were found in a well at a Hindu Temple in central India. This was after many people fell into the muddy waters following the collapse of the cover.
The video of Thursday’s temple collapse in Indore, Madhya Pradesh showed chaos with people running toward the exits. To help people flee, an excavator tore down the wall of the temple’s decades-old structure.
Nearly 140 rescuers including soldiers used ladders and ropes to lift the bodies out of the well after pumping out water. The task was made more difficult by the narrow path and the debris in the well.
Witnesses claimed that a large number of devotees gathered at the temple to celebrate Rama’s festival and perform a fire ritual.
Police Commissioner Makrand Deoskar stated that dozens of people were swept into the water by the collapsed structure above the well.
Kantibhai Ptel, president of a residents association, said that authorities took too long to respond and that the first ambulance arrived on the scene an hour later.
According to Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the top state elected official, the structure collapsed due to the heavy weight of the crowd. He ordered an investigation.
“We have recovered 35 bodies so far and the rescue operation continues,” stated Ilayaraja T. (a district administrator). Friday’s rescue operation was still ongoing.
On Thursday night, a team of army rescuers joined in the operation. According to The Times of India, the rescue operation was expedited following the discovery by underwater cameras that bodies were floating in the muddy water of the well.
Chauhan stated that 33 bodies were identified, and one person was still unaccounted for. Sixteen people were still hospitalized on Friday for injuries.
The temple authorities had stopped using this well many years ago and covered it with iron grills, tiles, and other materials.
The newspaper reported that temple owners were warned by municipal authorities to remove the cover from the well in January because it was unsafe and unauthorised. However, temple officials ignored the warning.
India is prone to building collapses due to poor construction and failures of regulations.
A century-old cable suspension span fell into a river in Gujarat’s western state in October. This caused hundreds to fall into the water, killing at least 132 people in one of the most horrific accidents in the country over the past decade.
