Death toll in Indore temple tragedy rises to 35, Search Operation still on

TIL Desk/National/Indore/ The death toll in the Indore temple stepwell roof collapse incident rose to 35 on Friday and a search operation is currently underway to trace one missing person, an official said. The slab constructed on top of an ancient ‘bawdi’ or stepwell collapsed during a ‘havan’ programme held on the occasion of Ram Navami at the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in the city on Thursday, plunging several devotees into the water reservoir below.

The temple located in Patel Nagar, where the tragedy took place, had been constructed after covering the square-shaped stepwell of around 20 ft x 20 ft size about four decades ago. “Our search operation, being carried out with the help of Army, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force is nearing completion. So far, 35 bodies have been recovered from the well,” Indore District Magistrate Dr Ilayaraja T told reporters from the site of the incident.

The bodies of all persons, except one, whose names were mentioned in the list of missing persons, have been recovered so far, he said. There is a lot of silt in the well and it is being removed to trace the missing person, Illayaraja said. Earlier, Indore Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) Pawan Kumar Sharma said that 16 people injured in the mishap have been admitted to a hospital, while two others were sent home after first aid.