“We couldn’t understand what happened. I saw some people falling with folded hands, looking bewildered,” said a witness to the horror, who survived because he was standing in a corner. Where there was floor, now there was gaping hole, with twisted iron rods sticking out at odd angles, some spearing devotees, others serving as desperate handholds for few seconds before the death plunge.
“I was among the first to fall. I landed at some depth and I could see light shining through the platform over me that was cracking up before my eyes. Then, I saw a woman slipping, holding on to an iron rod in desperation, and then losing her grip. She had terror in her eyes. I saw her fall and heard the splash a few seconds later,” said Lalit Ku-
mar Sethi, 35, who was among first few to be rescued. He was lucky to fall on a chunk of concrete that was still standing and survived with fractured hand. Temple had been holding hawan outside, in courtyard, but due to some restoration work, it was shifted on the platform covering the 20ft wide stepwell.
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Stepwell collapses at temple in Indore amid Ram Navami celebrations, rescue operation on
Newly-weds Akash Motwani (25) and Manisha (22) were attending havan as a couple from Sadhu Waswani Nagar. Akash’s sister Karish-ma was accompanying them. All of them fell. Akash was rescued an hour later. “I tried to rescue Manisha and Karishma. But could not,” wailed Akash, trembling to bone and unable to stop crying. He is in hospital, suffering from shock. Manisha drowned. Karishma is yet to be found.
Temple priest Ashok Daluka has been performing hawan for 20 years but he fell ill on Thursday and let others take over. The stand-in priests survived through sheer luck– they were not sitting on the part that collapsed.
Pushkar Patel was the first one to reach the stepwell after hearing the screams. “I could see the backs of women clinging to mangled iron. We helped the people we could reach,” Patel told TOI. By the time administration team arrived, Patel and other residents had saved a few persons.
Within hours, anguished relatives thronged the temple. Sona, 35, was seen running around, pleading with rescu-ers to find her family members. Her brother, his wife, son and mother Pushpa were missing. “I got a call. I rushed here. I can’t get through the authorities or find my family,” she said. Some families were shocked into silence. Archana Solanki (50) stood at the temple gate for hours , waiting for her husband . She only moved to peer into passing ambulances. She was assured by friends that he was alive. He is yet to be found. It’s going to be a long, dark night.
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The post is published through a syndicated feed and attributed to Times Of India
