Overview
- Rescuers recovered two bodies and evacuated injured devotees after large boulders rolled onto a stairway near Patiapul on Pavagadh Hill, with the incident occurring early Friday morning.
- Emergency teams from the ropeway service, local police and fire and rescue personnel led the search-and-rescue and moved the wounded to hospitals in Halol for treatment.
- Reports of the number injured vary across outlets, with accounts ranging from five to about 15 people, as authorities continue to reconcile casualty totals.
- Police have provisionally blamed heavy rain and soil erosion on the steep volcanic slope for the rockfall and have sent the recovered bodies for post-mortem examination.
- Pavagadh Hill is home to the Kalika Mata temple and is part of the UNESCO-listed Champaner-Pavagadh park, and the incident has raised immediate questions about visitor safety and slope management during the monsoon season.