Bhopal: The death toll in Thursday’s temple tragedy in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore mounted to 36, with the recovery of 23 more bodies from the stepwell of the shrine early on Friday morning.
The rescue operation picked up pace around midnight on Thursday with the deployment of the Army, leading to the recovery of 23 bodies from the stepwell in the wee hours of Friday, officials said.
The deceased included 20 women, 12 men and four children.
Twenty people have been rescued and admitted to the local hospital, officials said. On Thursday, 11 bodies were recovered, while two people rescued from the well succumbed to injuries in the hospital.
The cover of the stepwell in Beleshwar Mahadev temple in Indore caved in on Thursday, plunging the devotees gathered on it to take part in the "havan" ritual on the occasion of Ram Navami into the 40-foot-deep well, leading to the tragedy.
"The last body was recovered from the well at around noon on Friday. The death toll in the incident has now reached 36. All 25 missing people have been identified. However, we have decided to continue the rescue operation for a little longer to ensure that no one is left behind in the well", Indore police commissioner Makrand Deoskar said.
The temple has been sealed.
The cover, made of tiles laid over iron grills, had been marked for demolition after being identified as a "dangerous" structure by the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC). But the move was allegedly prevented by some members of the temple trust.
Incidentally, the stepwell did not find mention in the IMC list of 629 wells in Indore.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday visited injured persons in the hospital.
He told the reporters that a magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident and those found guilty in the investigation will be taken to task.
A case has been registered against the temple trust chairman Sewaram Gelani and secretary Sabnani under Section 304 (causing death by negligence, not amounting to culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.
IMC mayor Puspa Mitra Bhargav on Friday recommended the suspension of the building officer and building inspector of the corporation following the incident.
Business establishments in Indore on Friday remained closed in protest against the incident.
Meanwhile, state BJP president V.D. Sharma announced that the roadshow programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his scheduled visit to Bhopal on Saturday was shelved due to the tragic incident in Indore. The party has also decided to drop the plan to give a grand reception to Mr Modi on his arrival here for the same reason.
