NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Five children drowned on Wednesday in a water tank inside a temple in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state in southern India, broadcaster NDTV reported, in the second deadly incident in a temple this week in the South Asian country.
An investigation is being conducted into the Chennai incident, which took place during a ritual, the report cited local police as saying, adding that the bodies of all five victims were recovered. Details on the ritual were not immediately available.
On Thursday, at least 35 people were killed and 16 others injured when the roof of a stepwell inside a temple collapsed in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
The incident, in the city of Indore, occurred as devotees gathered to celebrate the Hindu festival of Ram Navami.
Reuters’ partner ANI reported on Monday that local authorities have since filled up the stepwell, demolished an old temple built on it as well as a new temple being built nearby, both of which were constructed illegally.
(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
