A 52-year-old Indian-origin man is among four people killed after a four-storey Hindu temple under construction collapsed in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, officials said.
The New Ahobilam Temple of Protection, on a steep hill in Redcliffe north of eThekwini (formerly Durban), was being expanded when a section gave way on Friday while workers were on site. The exact number of workers and temple officials believed trapped beneath rubble remains unknown.
Two people—a construction worker and a devotee—were confirmed dead on Friday; the death toll rose to four on Saturday after rescue teams recovered more bodies. One of the deceased has been identified as Vickey Jairaj Panday, an executive member of the temple trust and manager of the construction project. Panday had been involved in developing the temple since its inception nearly two years ago, local media reported. Sanvir Maharaj, director of Food for Love, a charity affiliated with the temple, also confirmed Panday’s death.
Rescue workers spent two days trying to recover a fifth body that had been located but suspended operations Saturday afternoon due to inclement weather, Reaction Unit South Africa spokesperson Prem Balram said. “At this stage, it cannot be confirmed whether additional individuals remain trapped beneath the rubble,” he added.
The temple was designed to resemble a cave, using rocks brought from India and excavated on site. The family building the structure had claimed it would house one of the world’s largest deities of Lord Nrsimhadeva. The eThekwini municipality stated no building plans had been approved for the project, suggesting the construction was illegal.
Initial rescue efforts were guided by cellphone calls from one of the trapped persons, but communications ceased late Friday evening. KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Thulasizwe Buthelezi visited the site on Saturday and pledged that rescue operations would continue as long as necessary, even as experts said there was little hope of finding more survivors. Buthelezi thanked the combined government and private teams involved in the search and rescue operation, including a special dog unit from the Western Cape.
