5 dead as part of old building collapses near Mathura’s Banke Bihari temple

Mathura: Five people died on Tuesday and four more were injured when parts of an old building collapsed on devotees near the Banke Bihari temple here, officials said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakhs to the next of kin of those killed in the incident and directed officials to ensure proper treatment of those injured, officials in Lucknow said.

The incident took place in the evening, police said, adding that a big chunk of a balcony collapsed on devotees walking past the house first and as work was underway to rescue those trapped under the debris, a wall of the building collapsed.

Vrindavan SHO Vijay Kumar Singh said a couple of monkeys were fighting among themselves on the balcony when it collapsed.

All those injured were rushed to a hospital, where five, including three women, were declared dead, the official said.

District Magistrate Pulkit Khare said due compensation will be awarded to the victim’s families.

The officials identified the deceased as Geeta Kashyap (50), Arvind Kumar Yadav (35), and Rashmi Gupta (52) from Kanpur, Anju Murgan (51) of Vrindavan, and Chandan Rai (28) of Deoria.

The injured are undergoing treatment and their condition was stated to be stable, they said.