A massive fire broke out at the Venugopala Swamy Temple in Andhra Pradesh during Ram Navami celebrations after the roof of a temple caved in on devotees in Madhya Pradesh's Indore where several people are feared trapped and rescue operations are underway. This comes as the entire country is offering prayers and performing pujas to celebrate the occasion of Ram Navami.
Indore Temple Tragedy
Over 25 people are feared trapped after the floor at Indore's Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple in Madhya Pradesh caved in on Thursday. The devotees fell into a stepwell after the floor caved in. The incident occured as a huge crowd gathered at the temple on the occassion of Ram Navami.
A video of the incident showed chaos inside the temple as the floor caved in, with people running towards the exit gate.
District authorities have launched an operation to rescue the devotees. Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has instructed the Indore Collector and Indore Commissioner to speed up the rescue operation.
The Chief Minister's Office said eight people have been rescued so far and sent to the hospital. Several ambulances have been deployed at the site.
"CMO is in constant touch with the Indore district administration. Top officers of Indore Police and district administration are present at the spot. Efforts are being made to evacuate the devotees. Some people have also been rescued," the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement.
Authorities said a wall at the ancient temple had to be broken with the help of a JCB to evacuate the devotees.
An eyewitness said a religious program was being held at the temple and a large crowd of devotees had gathered on the roof of the ancient temple. The roof apparently could not bear the burden of so many people, the eyewitness said.