KwaZulu-Natal: At least four people, including a man of Indian origin, have lost their lives after a partially built Hindu temple collapsed in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, officials confirmed on Saturday.
The incident occurred on Friday at the New Ahobilam Temple of Protection in Redcliffe, north of eThekwini, where expansion work was underway. The four-storey structure, located on a steep hillside, gave way suddenly while workers and temple representatives were present at the site.
Emergency services launched a large-scale rescue operation soon after the collapse, but the exact number of people who may have been inside the building at the time remains unclear. Two fatalities were confirmed on Friday, while the death toll increased to four the following day after additional bodies were recovered from the debris.
Among those killed was 52-year-old Vickey Jairaj Panday, identified by local media as an executive member of the temple trust and the project’s construction manager. Panday had reportedly been closely associated with the development of the temple since its early stages nearly two years ago. His death was also confirmed by Sanvir Maharaj, director of Food for Love, a charitable organisation linked to the temple.
Search efforts continued over two days as rescue teams attempted to retrieve another body believed to be trapped beneath the rubble. However, operations were halted on Saturday afternoon due to adverse weather conditions, according to Prem Balram, spokesperson for Reaction Unit South Africa. Authorities said it remains uncertain whether more individuals are still buried under the debris.
Officials revealed that early rescue attempts were aided by mobile phone calls from one trapped person, but contact was lost late on Friday evening.
The temple, designed in a cave-like style using rocks sourced locally and from India, was intended to house what its builders claimed would be one of the largest statues of Lord Nrsimhadeva in the world. However, the eThekwini municipality stated that no approved building plans existed for the structure, raising concerns about the legality of the construction.
KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, visited the site on Saturday and assured that recovery operations would continue as long as conditions allowed. He thanked the joint efforts of government agencies and private rescue teams, including a specialised dog unit flown in from the Western Cape, for their work amid increasingly difficult circumstances.
