Five killed as under-construction temple roof collapses in Maharashtra’s Parbhani

At least five people lost their lives, and 18 others were injured after a section of the roof of an under-construction Hanuman temple collapsed in Maharashtra's Parbhani district on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

The incident occurred at Yashwadi village on the Parbhani-Manwat road, around 190 kilometres from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. According to police, a portion of the roof of the temple's under-construction sabha mandap, or assembly hall, caved in at around 3.30 pm while devotees were present at the site.

Rescue teams rushed to the spot and launched an operation to pull people trapped beneath the debris. Officials said around 25 people had been rescued from the site, while the number of injured stood at 18.

Authorities said the temple had attracted a large number of devotees as Saturday is traditionally associated with worship of Lord Hanuman, leading to a heavier-than-usual gathering at the premises.

The deceased have been identified as Santosh Gadade of Mantha, Akash Surduse of Parbhani, Munesh Agarwal (26) from Jintur, Suraj Popatkar (20) of Manwat and Srikrushna Gaware (38) of Wadvani in Beed district.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the loss of lives and said the state government was ensuring medical treatment for those injured in the accident.

He also announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for the families of each of the deceased.

The exact cause of the collapse is yet to be officially determined, and authorities are expected to investigate the circumstances that led to the failure of the under-construction structure.

With PTI inputs