New Delhi – No fewer than seven people were killed and nine others injured after boulders loosened by rains crashed on a hillside Sikh temple in northern India on Tuesday.
A portion of the residential complex of the Manikaran Sahib temple in Himachal Pradesh state was damaged.
Administration official, Rakesh Kanwar, told newsmen that rescue workers were at the site searching for survivors.
Kanwar said it was not clear how many people were in the building when the tragedy struck but eyewitnesses said many were trapped beneath the rubble and the death toll could rise.
However, the main shrine of the temple was not affected.
Manikaran Sahib is among the most famous Sikh shrines in India and attracts tens of thousands of devotees through the year.
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Officials said recent rains had loosened earth and dislodged the boulders on the hill atop the shrine.
India’s monsoon season usually lasts from June to September and torrential rains routinely exact a heavy toll, causing floods, landslides, house collapses and crop destruction. (dpa/NAN)
