At least nine children were killed and several others injured on Sunday after a wall collapsed during a Hindu religious event in Shahpur village of Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district, about 205 km northeast of Bhopal . The wall of dilapidated house collapsed on the victims due to heavy rain. District Collector Deepak Arya said nine children died on the spot, and that at least two others were receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Local authorities have managed to clear most of the debris from the site following the wall collapse, and have begun an investigation into the incident.
CM Yadav directed authorities to provide “proper treatment” to the injured children.
“Today in a tragic incident near the Hardaul Baba temple in Shahpur here, nine children aged between 10-15 years were killed and several others injured in a wall collapse. The people had gathered in the temple for a religious ceremony when the wall of a house next to the temple collapsed over them,” a police official said. “The 50-year-old house was run down by heavy rain in the ongoing monsoon season.”
Immediately after the incident, authorities rushed disaster response force personnel and police teams to the spot to carry out rescue work and pull bodies from beneath the debris.
The injured children have been sent to the hospital. “Today, I am saddened to hear the news of nine innocent children dying due to the collapse of the wall of a dilapidated house due to heavy rains in Shahpur of Sagar district. I pray to God to grant peace to the souls of the deceased children. I pray for the speedy recovery of the other children injured in the accident. I express my deepest condolences to the families who have lost their innocent children,” Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said in a post on X.
Announcing financial assistance, his post also said, “The families of the deceased children will be given financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each by the government.”
On Saturday, four children were killed in a wall collapse incident in the state’s Rewa district. The children, in the age group of five to seven years, were returning from school when the wall collapsed on them. The owners of the house, the wall of which collapsed, have been arrested.
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