Emergency teams worked tirelessly to search for survivors amidst the rubble near the New Ahobilam Temple in Verulam. The search-and-rescue operation at the collapsed Verulam temple site has concluded, with teams being stood down following an extensive project involving different teams since Friday’s collapse. An extension under construction at the New Ahobilam Temple of Protection in Redcliffe, Verulam, collapsed with several people rescued, and five bodies were recovered over the weekend.
The temple, situated on the River Range Ranch, was built to resemble a cave. Five people including temple founder Vick Panday, Vasudeva Datta Das, Kishore Hurribhujan, Jayseelan (Jayce) Perumal and Abdul Prabhus died in the collapse. IPSS Search and Rescue spokesperson Samantha Meyrick said that after recovering the fifth body at the weekend, they started clearing the site as there was exposed rebar, metal strips and planting that posed a danger.
“What we did on the rest of Sunday is we cleared all of that out. Then we were able to bring in the canine dogs, who then searched the area, just trying to see if they could locate any potential other bodies on site. I know the dogs did indicate a certain area. We then cleared that out, and when the dogs went back in, they showed no indication of any more bodies,” explained Meyrick.
