According to officials, at least 13 devotees died and more than a dozen were rescued on Thursday after they fell into a well at a Hindu temple in India.
The incident happened in the central city of Indore when more than 25 worshippers fell into the stepwell, which is a stair-lined communal water source after the floor covering it collapsed.
“Police recovered 11 bodies from the well and two people succumbed to their injuries at the hospital,” Narottam Mishra, Madhya Pradesh home minister, told reporters.
An investigation has been launched into the incident and the families of the dead will be compensated according to Mishra. The injured were moved to government hospitals for treatment, said police official Manish Kapooriya.
Rescue efforts were continuing as shown in television footage where emergency workers used ropes and ladders to reach those trapped in the well in Madhya Pradesh state. Other videos showed the caved-in floor and mangled steel bars, and policemen using ropes to seal the area.
Temples across India were brimming with devotees on the occasion of Ram Navami, the birthday of the Hindu deity Lord Ram.
