A devastating wall collapse occurred at the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Simhachalam, Visakhapatnam, during the annual Chandanotsavam festival.
The incident took place at around 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday, when devotees were queued up to buy tickets for darshan.
Seven devotees lost their lives in the tragedy, with officials confirming the death toll after completing rescue operations.
A techie couple, Pilla Uma Maheswara Rao (30) and Pilla Sailaja (26), were among the victims. They worked for HCL and Infosys in Hyderabad and were working from home.
The couple, who married three years ago, hailed from Chandrapalem village in Madhurawada, Visakhapatnam. Unfortunately, Sailaja’s mother, Venkat Ratna (45), and aunt, G. Mahalakshmi (65), were also killed.
The other deceased were identified as Durgaswamy Naidu (33) and K. Manikantha (28) from East Godavari district, and Yedla Venkat Rao (45) from Visakhapatnam.
Three devotees who were injured in the incident were admitted to King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and police personnel launched a rescue operation, which was supervised by Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha, district Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad, and Police Commissioner Shanka Brata Bagchi.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, and IT Minister Nara Lokesh expressed shock and grief over the incident.
The incident has sent shockwaves through the community, with many mourning the loss of life during what was supposed to be a sacred and joyous occasion.