Some 15 children happily engrossed in making ‘parthiv shivling’ (creating shivlings out of clay) in Shahpur in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district on a wet Sunday had no inkling that a cruel twist of fate would snatch nine of their friends forever.
Nine children in the 10-15 age group were killed and two injured after a wall of a dilapidated house near a temple collapsed between 8:30am and 9am, wiping out the happiness residents of Shahpur town were deriving from the three-day ‘parthiv shivling nirmaan’ programme, a staple of the month of ‘Saavan’, underway at Hardoi Temple.
“I was returning after offering water to the shivling when a wall collapsed, trapping several children who were making clay shivlings under a tent. I was stunned and could not fathom what was happening. The urn in which I had taken water for the offering fell from my hand. I shouted and people for all around rushed to help,” said an eyewitness, who was one of the organisers of the religious event.
A video of his narration of the incident to local police at the site, in which he can be heard saying the programme was on for the past three days, went viral on social media soon after.
“The wall collapse took place in a dilapidated house belonging to one Patel. We did not know how precarious its condition was or else we would never have erected a tent using it as support. Constant rains further weakened the structure,” he said.
At the local primary health centre, a tearful parent said there was no one to bandage the wound on her niece’s hand, adding that the facility was a neglected one.
“There is no one in the hospital to take care of the injured children. Doctors don’t turn up here for months, and if they do, they arrive at 11am and leave by 3pm. A single doctor runs this PHC,” the parent claimed. Another video showed a person claiming that some children would have been alive had doctors been available, and sought the suspension of health and civic authorities of the area for the tragedy. Local BJP MLA and former state minister Gopal Bhargava told reporters some of the deceased were from one-child families, highlighting the intensity of the pain the event has brought to the area and its residents. These children got crushed under the tent and the debris from the wall, Bhargava pointed out. Collector Deepak Arya said two children died on the spot, while seven others succumbed on the way to hospital or on reaching there. Two injured children were admitted in the district hospital and are out of danger, Arya added. The deceased have been identified as Dhruv Yadav (12), Nitesh Patel (13), Ashutosh Prajapati (15), Prince Sahu (12), Parv Vishwakarma (10), Divyansh Sahu (12), Dev Sahu (12), Vansh Lodhi (10) and Hemant (10), local officials said. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.
