Nepal church collapse kills 23 including one Indian

In a very shocking incident, 23 people including one Indian were reported crushed when a makeshift church building collapsed in eastern Nepal on Wednesday.

According to reports, the incident at the town of Dharan occurred as thousands of people gathered for a Christian convention when the three-storey bamboo structure collapsed killing dozens and injuring 63.

The Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported that nearly 2000 people had assembled in the Zion Prayer Hall and around 400 people were sleeping in the makeshift building when it collapsed.

"We have recovered 23 bodies while 63 people have been hurt and have been admitted to hospital," police official Raj Kumar Pandey told IANS.

At least 17 women and four children were among those killed. Nika Rai, a 29-year-old Indian woman from Siliguri was killed and two others Karma Chhodin, 29, and Sarada Rai from Sikkim was reported injured.

Initially, the rescue efforts were said affected due to a popular Hindu festival celebrated countrywide. All government offices remained closed on Wednesday.

The accident occurred during a weeklong convention organised by the El-Shaddai Church, founded by Bakht Singh, one of India's most influential Bible teachers and church planters.

Bakht Singh, born to Hindu parents in Punjab, converted to Christianity in 1929, and the later 70 years dedicated his life for the ministry, planting numerous churches in India and neighboring countries, including Nepal.

Meanwhile, Nepal's Communist-led government has expressed deep sorrow over the incident. In a statement, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar said he was "deeply grieved and shocked" by the tragedy.

"On behalf of the government, I express my deep sorrow at the incident and condolences to the grieving families," the prime minister said.

Nepal, with around 500,000 Christians and nearly 3,000 churches, faces its second tragedy after the May 23 bomb blast in one of the largest church in the predominantly Hindu nation.

Nepal, according to the 2001 census, has 80.6 percent Hindus, 10.7 percent Buddhists, 4.2 percent Muslims and 0.5 percent Christians.