At least seven persons were killed and four others injured when a wall adjacent to a queue line collapsed on the devotees at the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Simhachalam in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Wednesday, officials said.
An eighth person victim of the wall collapse was found alive, currently battling for their life in the hospital.
The incident took place at around 2:30 am when devotees were waiting in line for ‘Nijaroopa’ darshan of the deity on the occasion of the annual Chandanotsavam festival.
Following the collapse, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with local officials, launched immediate rescue and relief operations.
‘Soil loosening due to heavy rains’
Soon after, state home minister Vangalapudi Anitha rushed to the spot of the incident. She told reporters that according to preliminary reports, the newly-built temple wall was soaked with water due to previous night’s heavy rainfall, adding that pressure from the devotees led to the wall’s collapse.
“They were standing in the queue line for special darshan after paying ₹300 per ticket. The wall is adjacent to a shopping complex on the way from Simhagiri Bus Stand—suddenly gave way and collapsed due to loosening of soil because of heavy rains in the area,”
Apart from Anitha, Visakhapatnam District Collector Harendhira Prasad, and Commissioner of Police Shankha Brata Bagchi also arrived at the temple to oversee the rescue efforts.
Prasad said the victims included three women and they were yet to be identified. “The bodies of the victims and injured were shifted to King George Hospital, Visakkhapatnam,” he added.
3-member panel to probe collapse
Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief over the tragedy and condoled the lost lives. He also announced an ex gratia of ₹25 lakh each to the victims’ families and ₹3 lakh each to the injured.
The chief minister has also formed a three-member official committee to probe the wall collapse incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended his condolences to the bereaved families and wished for the recovery of the injured. “Deeply saddened by the loss of lives due to the collapse of a wall in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon,” the PM said.
He also announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) to the families of the deceased. The injured persons would be given an ex gratia of ₹50,000 each.
Every year, during the Chandanotsavam festival, deity Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy is revealed to devotees in his true form (Nijaroopa), without the usual sandalwood paste that typically covers the idol throughout the year. Thousands of devotees had already gathered at Simhachalam for the rare sight.
The deity was ceremoniously awakened at 1:00 am with a Suprabhata Seva. Following this, the sandalwood paste was carefully removed from the idol using special silver scrapers.
