Visakhapatnam: Seven devotees died a newly constructed wall collapsed at Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Simhachalam on Wednesday during the annual Chandanotsavam festival in the early hours.

A few devotees also injured in this incident. The injured devotees were shifted to the KGH for treatment. The incident occurred in the Rs. 300 queue line where devotees had gathered for ‘Nijaroopa Darshan’ of the deity.

The wall have collapsed due to heavy rainfall that occurred between 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. However, the exact cause of the collapse is still under investigation. The incident occurred shortly after the temple’s hereditary trustee, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, offered silk robes to the deity as part of the traditional ritual.

Threewomen and five were men were died on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries later. So far, three victims have been identified through Aadhaar cards. The remaining bodies are yet to be identified and have been kept in the mortuary. Postmortem will begin once their families confirm the identities, said K. Sivanand, Superintendent of King George Hospital. Three of the deceased are identified as Y. Venkat Rao (55),
P. Swamy Naidu (33), and K. Manikanta Eswar (28).

The AP Chief Minister also declared an ex gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 3 lakh to each injured person. Additionally, one eligible member from each bereaved family will be offered an outsourced job under the Endowments Department.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his twitter x, he expressed condolences and announced ex gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh for each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the PMNRF.

The VHP demanded that Visakhapatnam District Collector and Utsav Committee in-charge Ramachandra Mohan be held accountable. VHP State Math-Mandir representative Pudipeddi Sharma criticised officials for allegedly focusing on VIP arrangements at the cost of general devotees’ safety.