Seven dead, four injured as structure collapses during Chandanotsavam festival in Visakhapatnam

Seven dead, four injured as a makeshift structure collapses during Chandanotsavam festival in Visakhapatnam; rescue ops ongoing.

Visakhapatnam : Seven people died, and four were injured after a 20-foot-long stretch of a makeshift structure collapsed during the Chandanotsavam festival at the Sri Varahalakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Wednesday. 

Search and rescue operations are underway by the teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force, an official said.

According to an SDRF jawan, the incident occurred around 2.30 am.

"Seven people died in the incident. The injured have been sent to the hospital for treatment...We immediately reached the spot after the incident was reported," the SDRF jawan told ANI.

Vangalapudi Anitha, Home and Disaster Management Minister of Andhra Pradesh has also reached the spot.
Anitha told ANI that the incident was unfortunate.

"There was heavy rainfall. All precautions had been taken. It is an unfortunate," she said.

More information is awaited.