Lucknow, July 11: A horrific incident has taken place in Mughalsarai Kotwali limits of Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh when a PWD staff member was killed when the tower of Kali Mata temple collapsed during road widening work.
A major mishap occurred while clearing an ancient Kali temple as part of road widening work, killing one Public Works Department (PWD) staff member and seriously injuring another.
The temple was being cleared using a bulldozer for road widening work late on Friday night.
At this time, Jhumri alias Baldev (58), a resident of Padav Dandi and a PWD staff member, was holding onto a rope. At the same time, the huge dome of the temple suddenly collapsed.
While falling, the dome first hit the bucket of the bulldozer and changed direction, falling on Baldev and another person, trapping them under the debris.
An atmosphere of panic prevailed at the scene as soon as the accident occurred. Both the injured were immediately admitted to the hospital, but Baldev died without treatment. Another injured person is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
After the incident, the administration, police and locals rushed to the spot and carried out relief and rescue operations. As a safety measure, the temple clearance work was temporarily suspended.
Upon receiving the information, Mughalsarai Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Rajiv Mohan Saxena and Kotwali Station In-charge Vijay Pratap Singh visited the spot and inspected it. The officials have collected complete information about the incident and have started an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Officials said that the PWD personnel were trapped under the debris when the dome suddenly collapsed while the temple was being cleared as part of a road expansion project.
The district administration has ordered an investigation to find out the exact reason behind the collapse of the dome and whether there was any lapse in safety measures. Officials said that further action will be taken based on the investigation report.