LUCKNOW, India, 31st March, 2023 (WAM) — At least 35 people were killed and 16 were injured after the roof of a stepwell in a temple complex collapsed in central India, Reuters quoted a local government official as saying on Friday.
The incident occurred in the central Indian city of 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.
Stepwells are a common feature across India, built hundreds of years ago, 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," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the central Indian state where Indore is located, told reporters late on Thursday.