Behind the Verulam Temple Tragedy

Vick Panday devoted the last few years of his life to building a temple for prayer and protection in Verulam.

This week, it became a site of profound loss when he and four others died beneath the rubble of the New Ahobilam Temple of Protection after an extension under construction at the temple collapsed on Friday afternoon.

Yesterday, the Panday family — well known in Durban business and charity circles — closed ranks and went into mourning, unable to speak to anyone as they struggled to come to terms with the tragedy.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered at the scene since Friday as rescue workers raced against the clock and worsening weather to search for survivors. At the start of the operation, chaos erupted as crowds hindered access to the site. The search was called off yesterday evening due to poor conditions but was expected to resume at first light, weather permitting.

Panday and his brother Viresh built the temple in honour of the Hindu deity Lord Nrsimhadeva, designing it to resemble the cave in India where the God is believed to have appeared. Rocks were flown in from India, and experts were brought in to ensure the structure was built according to Vedic scientific standards.

Family members spoke to the Sunday Tribune on Friday evening while Panday was still trapped under the rubble. “Vicky is trapped under the rubble. Viresh was not on site. It is indeed a very sad time for us,” a relative said, unaware that the situation would worsen.

The collapse occurred at a four-storey extension that, according to the eThekwini Municipality, did not have approved plans and was considered illegal. The structure gave way at the River Range Ranch in Redcliffe, trapping several construction workers and Panday beneath tons of concrete and steel. The structure collapsed apparently during a ready-mix pouring operation.

Yesterday, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson had visited the site, accompanied by KZN Cogta MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi and eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba. Speaking to reporters, Macpherson expressed frustration at recurring tragedies in the construction sector, saying he was “tired of hearing of people dying in building collapses.”

“What strikes me is that more people have died. People are not supposed to die on construction sites,” Macpherson said. “Buildings are supposed to stand tall and be monuments to engineering excellence. This obviously is the very opposite of that,” he said.

He confirmed the fatalities, while additional survivors were treated for mild to moderate injuries. Rescue efforts are being led by a multi-disciplinary team, including units from eThekwini Search and Rescue, SAPS Search and Rescue, the KZN and National Disaster Management Centres, and even the Western Cape Search and Rescue team, which brought dogs experienced in previous building collapses.

Macpherson stressed that the immediate focus remains on rescue, refusing to speculate on the cause of the collapse at this stage. The Council for the Built Environment is set to lead the official investigation once rescue operations conclude, with experts already on the ground.

Beyond the immediate crisis, the minister highlighted systemic failures in the built environment, pointing to regulatory fragmentation across municipalities, building authorities, and Public Works. “There’s no synergy or common objective to those regulations,” he said. “We need to end that fragmentation because gaps exist where people are able to take opportunities.” He vowed a swift overhaul of building compliance regulations.

Macpherson drew a sharp contrast between the construction sector and the mining industry regarding safety. “The building industry has to catch up to the safety and zero-tolerance approach to injuries and death in the mining industry. We are working in as dangerous conditions as the mining industry, and the safety, compliance, and regulatory standards don’t seem to be there,” he said.

Buthelezi and Xaba appealed to families to be patient with the rescue teams. “We do have hope that if there is a chance that someone is still alive, then we need to use all our efforts and energy to rescue that person,” Buthelezi said. Xaba noted that while the site has been handed over to the rescue teams, preliminary investigations into regulatory non-compliance have begun.

Prem Balram from the private security company Reaction Unit South Africa said they received a call  just after midday on Friday and were at the scene within 4 minutes of the structure collapsing.

Balram said he immediately knew that they would require all hands on deck. The response was overwhelming.

"I sent out a plea asking for anybody in KZN to help us because this was a mammoth task and I knew that we would need help;  no single person, no single company would be able to handle it," he said.

By the time the rescue mission was called off yesterday evening they still had no idea how many people were missing or trapped under the rubble as they didnt have a list of people who were on site at the time of the collapse.

Last year, thousands of devotees from around the world visited the Verulam temple when it opened, drawn by its unique architecture, which mirrors the cave in India where Lord Nrsimhadeva is said to have appeared. Panday at the time said, “Nrsimhadeva appeared in a cave in Ahobilam in South India, so the temple should resonate with where he appeared and how he appeared.”

The temple sits on the River Range Ranch in Redcliffe, a property that also includes the Vrindavan Eco Village, owned by the Vick and Helina Panday Family Trust. The Panday family previously established the Food For Love programme to provide meals to communities and organisations across the area.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE