2 dead, 2 hurt after wall near Mahakal temple collapses

The wall was being constructed around the building of an old Maharajwada school which was being converted into a heritage hotel

BHOPAL: Two persons were killed and two injured after a boundary wall of an under-construction heritage hotel near gate number four of Mahakaleshwar temple collapsed following heavy rains in Ujjain on Friday evening, police said.

Two of the four persons injured in the incident have been taken to a hospital in Indore (Screengrab)

Ujjain district collector Neeraj Singh told reporters that two persons died and the rescue operation was going on. Superintendent of police Pradeep Sharma also confirmed that two people were killed and two others were injured in the mishap.

The deceased have been identified as Farheen Khan, 22, a resident of Jaisinghpura and Ajay Yogi, 27, a resident of Shivshakti Nagar.

Among the injured are Sharda Bai, 40, a resident of Ujjainia village and three-year-old Ruhi of Jaisinghpura in Ujjain. Two of the injured have been referred to Bombay Hospital Indore.

A second police officer said the efforts to remove the debris with heavy machinery such as earth movers were continuing amid the heavy downpour.

“This is a natural calamity. We are trying to provide all kinds of help to the families of injured and deceased,” said the temple’s head priest Ashish Pujari said,

The 20-year-old wall, which collapsed on Friday, was the boundary wall of a school and now a new wall has been constructed by the Tourism department for the Heritage hotel just 10 feet away.