36 dead after collapse at temple in India

LUCKNOW, India — At least 36 people were killed inside a well at a Hindu temple in central India after dozens of people attending a festival fell into the muddy water when its cover collapsed, officials said on Friday.

The incident occurred in Indore after a concrete slab covering the roof of a stepwell in a temple complex collapsed, crushing devotees who had gathered to celebrate the Hindu festival of Ram Navami on Thursday, officials said.

Built hundreds of years ago, stepwells are a common feature across India, many of them ornately decorated, with access to a body of water through stairs and niches.

"The stepwell was covered, but the slab covering it collapsed because of the crowd and extra load on it," Shivraj Singh Chouhan, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, the central Indian state where Indore is located, told reporters late on Thursday.

Nearly 140 rescuers, including army personnel, used ropes and ladders to pull the bodies from the well after pumping out the water. A narrow path and debris in the well made the task difficult.

"We have recovered 36 bodies and everybody is accounted for now," Pawan Kumar Sharma, commissioner of the local municipal corporation, told The Associated Press.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he was "extremely pained" by news of the tragedy.

Modi's office said compensation payments of 200,000 rupees ($2,400) would be given to the next of kin.

Narottam Mishra, home minister of Madhya Pradesh, told reporters on Thursday that an investigation had been launched into the mishap.

Video footage showed the cavedin floor and mangled steel bars as well as police officers using ropes to seal the area.

In October, a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed into a river in the western state of Gujarat, sending hundreds of people plunging into the water and killing at least 132.

Agencies Via Xinhua