Toll in Indore temple stepwell collapse rises to 35
Fourteen persons have been rescued so far, one more is missing.
The toll in Indore temple stepwell collapse incident rose to 35 on Friday, reported PTI. The search teams have rescued 14 persons so far, Indore Collector Dr Ilayaraja T said.
The roof of a stepwell at the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple had collapsed on Thursday during a ritual on the occasion of Ram Navami . Videos on social media show that the floor of the stepwell caved in owing to heavy footfall.
“Bodies of 35 persons have been recovered from the site,” the Indore collector told PTI. “Search and rescue operations led by the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, and Army personnel have recovered the bodies. We are still looking for one missing person.”
The rescue operation had started at 12:30 pm on Thursday and is still underway.
VIDEO | "35 casualties have been reported so far. Search and rescue operations are still underway to trace one more person in the missing list," says Indore DM Dr. Ilayaraja T on the stepwell roof collapse at Indore's Beleshwar Mahadev Temple. pic.twitter.com/LacXwq6omL
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 31, 2023
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered an investigation into the incident.
“Due to the heavy load on the stepwell, it sank,” Chouhan said. “I have given instructions to investigate the incident. In this unfortunate incident, the government stands with all the families of those whom we could not save.”